The Improvement Era

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WHEN WRITING TO ADVERTISERS, PLEASE MENTION THE IMPROVEMENT ERA

Pioneer View

"This is the place!" So exclaimed Brigham Young when,
on the wonderful 24th of July, 1847, he beheld the glorious
panorama of the Salt Lake Valley from a point in the month of
Emigration Canyon from which the Pioneers emerged from the
mountains to rest their feet upon the soil of their future home.
On the day following that date, July 25, 1921, seventy-four years
later, the Y. M. M. I. A., an organization founded, June, 1875, by
the great pioneer, celebrated the event by the unveiling of a
monument, with appropriate exercises, on the exact spot where
the famous declaration was made.

In the absence of President Heber J. Grant, who was out of
the state, Elder Preston Nibley, chairman of the committee hav-
ing the celebration in charge, unveiled the monument.

President Anthony W. Ivins, General Superintendent of the
Y. M. M. I. A., presided. He said in speaking to the great as-
sembly of over 2,000 people, who were present, and in christen-
ing the location:

"Zn. order that this spot may be preserved and that we may
not forget the divine faith and prophetic vision which led these
pioneers to journey into the wilderness in search of a resting
place, we now dedicate this monument and name this place
'Pioneer View? We hope that at some time in the future this
small monument may be replaced with one more imposing in
size, and that these grounds, now in a primitive state, may be
cultivated and beautified as they should be."

Colonel Willard Young, son of President Brigham Young,
gave the invocation and Robert Sweeten, of Holbrook, Idaho, a
pioneer of 1847, pronounced the benediction. Edward P. Kim-
ball directed the singing of hymns, and the Boy Scout band
gave old pioneer musical numbers. The songs and the memo-
ries of the early days brought many to tears.

Elder W. W. Riter, who was nine years of age when he with
his parents followed Brigham Young into the valley, was pres-
ent and was made the authority, confirmed by Alma Eldredge,
another pioneer of 1847, for the correct placing of the monu-
ment marking the spot.

The oration by B. H. Roberts, and the speeches in full are
printed in this number of the Era. The songs sung were, "Come,
come, ye Saints," "O ye mountains high," and "Come, let us
anew." — A.

"This is the Place'— Brigham Young, July 24, 1847

Photograph of the monument erected by the Y. M. M. I. A., July 2.5.
1921, at a spot in the mouth of Emigration Canyon, which was named on
the time Pioneer View.

IMPROVEMENT ERA

Vol. XXIV SEPTEMBER, 1921 No. 11

Monument at Pioneer View*

Celebration of the 24th of July by the Y. M. M. I. A., at the
Mouth of Emigration Canyon

By President B. H. Roberts, of the First Council of Seventy

Seventy-four years ago yesterday (July 24, 1921) an inci-
dent occurred on or near the spot where we now stand that is
destined to live in the memory of men through the ages to
come. At the time this incident occurred little was thought of
it. It was quite natural that it should happen just as it did. It
fitted into the day's work completely, and many years elapsed
before men began to sense the significance of it. It is that way
with so many of History's most important incidents — it requires
time to unfold their full import. Before giving an account of
the incident itself, let us see if we can get something of the at-
mosphere of it.

It will not be necessary to tell the story of the people among
whose leaders the incident referred to happened. That is well
known to you and to History. It will be sufficient to say that
on their expulsion from Nauvoo, 111., they began their westward
movement that finally terminated in their settling in the Salt
Lake valley, and other valleys of what we now call Utah. This
western movement was headed by a special band of pioneers,
less than one hundred and fifty in number, but augmented on
the journey by additions at Fort Laramie from a company of
Saints who had wintered at Pueblo, usually called the Mississippi
Saints, because they had come from the state of that name, and
also by a small number from the Pueblo detachment of the in-
valided "Mormon" battalion, who overtook the pioneers at
Green River on July 4.

*Delivered at the dedication of the monument at Pioneer View, July 25,
1921, the spot where Brigham Young stood and, gazing into the valley, said,
"This is the place."

960 IMPROVEMENT ERA

Stricken with Fever

On reaching Bear river a number of the pioneer band were
stricken with "mountain fever," among them Brigham Young,
who became so ill that he was compelled to stop at the Bear
river encampment with others who were sick. The main en-
campment passed on, leaving the sick and a few wagons with
well folks to care for those stricken with the fever. This out-
break of fever slowed down the march for some days.

Recognizing the value of the time element in their move-
ments, on the 13th of July an advanced company was organized
under the leadership of Orson Pratt, consisting of 23 wagons and
42 men, quite a number of whom were of the Mississippi com-
pany. These were to press on with all speed, find and follow
the wagon trail into Salt Lake valley made by the Donner-Reed
company of the year before. That party consisted of 87 souls,
of which 36 were men and 21 women, the rest children. They
must have had from 20 to 25 wagons.

From this time on the pioneer train was divided into three
divisions: Orson Pratt's advance company, the main division,
comprising the larger number of men and wagons under the
leadership of Willard Richards and George A. Smith, and the
third division, comprising a few wagons conveying the sick,
among whom was Brigham Young.

The Place of Destination

The noon encampment of Elder Pratt's advance company
on July 21st was at what is now called Little mountain; and, hav-
ing been overtaken that morning by Erastus Snow, sent forward
from the main division of the pioneer train, these two, Orson
Pratt and Erastus Snow, leaving the advance company to im-
prove the road and move down the canyon as far as possible,
took one horse between them and followed the wagon trail of
the previous year to the mouth of the canyon. This trail leaving
the creek on the right, ascended a very steep hill of the "hog-
back" type. From the summit of it a fine view of Salt Lake
valley is to be had from what we now call the Jordan Narrows to
Great Salt Lake. "On ascending this butte," Erastus Snow
wrote in his journal entry of that day, "we involuntarily, both
at the same instant, uttered a shout of joy at finding it to be
the very place of our destination, and beheld the broad bosom
of the Great Salt Lake, spreading itself before us."

Orson Pratt journalizing of the same incident, says: "After
issuing from the mountains among which we had been shut up
for so many days, and beholding in a moment such an extensive
scene open before us, we could not refrain from a shout of joy

MONUMENT AT PIONEER VIEW 961

which almost involuntarily escaped from our lips the moment
this grand and lovely scenery was within our view."

Leaving the summit from which they obtained this view,
the two pioneers descended the eastern slope of the valley in a
southwesterly direction to a point where they had seen canes
growing that looked like waving grain. This led them to the
banks of a stream now known to us as Mill Creek.

Remembered Instructions

Here they remembered instructions from President Young,
received July 19 per the hand of Orrin Porter Rockwell, telling
the brethren that when they emerged into Salt Lake valley "to
turn a little to the north and put in their seed." This also was
confirmed by a communication from Willard Richards and
George A. Smith, in charge of the main division of the pioneer
train, giving this same instruction about turning to the north,
on emerging into the valley, and giving the reason therefor.

I quote from their letter:

President Young gave us his views concerning a stopping place in
the basin [Salt Lake valley] by saying that he felt inclined, for the pres-
ent, not to crowd upon the Utes [Ute tribe of Indians] until we have a
chance to get acquainted with them, and that it would be better to lean to-
wards the region of Salt Lake rather than the Utah [lake], and find
some place for our seeds and deposit them as speedily as possible — regard-
less of a future location.

The president thinks that the Utes may feel a little tenacious about
their choice lands on the Utah [lake]. We had better keep further north
towards the Salt Lake, which is more of a war-like or neutral ground, and
by doing so we should be less likely to be disturbed, and also have a
chance to form an acquaintance with the Utes, and having done our plant-
ing, shall seek a site for our location at our leisure.

Remembering these instructions of the President, and ob-
serving that they had borne southward rather than to the north
from the mouth of the canyon, our pioneers turned to the north,
which brought them to the stream we now call City creek, and
on the present site of Salt Lake City.

The Valley Explored

The next morning, July 22, a party of nine horsemen,
headed by Orson Pratt and George A. Smith, rode out into the
valley to explore it, directing the remainder of the camp to pro-
ceed with the road making down into the valley. At the mouth
of the canyon the exploring party left instructions to follow the
creek bed, that by cutting away the underbrush and digging
away the rocks, a better and safer road could be had than by
going over the steep hill over which the Donner-Reed train had
passed the previous year.

A circuit of more than 15 miles was made by the exploring

962 IMPROVEMENT ERA

party during the day; and at night they found their camp had
moved down to the camp on Mill creek.

The next morning the instruction of President Young to
bear to the north upon entering Salt Lake valley was again
called to mind, and the whole encampment, now comprising
Orson Pratt's advance company and the main division, moved
three or four miles northward and camped on the forks of what
we call City creek, the present site of the city lying at our feet.
Here by prayer of thanksgiving and praise they dedicated the
land and began the plowing and planting of it that day. This
was on the south fork of City Creek, which roughly, and in a
somewhat meandering course, ran south, parallel with our pres-
ent State street, while the other fork in the same manner,
paralleled North Temple street, the division of the stream be-
ing a little east of Temple Square; and the first plowing was
done near where the Auerbach and Company's store — once the
Knutsford Hotel — now stands, on State street.

Meantime, President Young's division of the train had been
moving slowly and painfully through the mountains over the
rough wagon trail. On July 23 his company passed over Big
mountain. Of this event his journal history says:

I ascended and crossed over Big mountain; when on its summit I di-
rected Elder Woodruff, who had kindly tendered me the use of his carriage,
to turn the same half way round, so that I could have a view of a por-
tion of Salt Lake valley. The spirit of light rested upon me and moved
over the valley, and I felt that there the Saints would find protection and
safety.

From this rolling summit of Big Mountain only a very
limited glimpse of the Salt Lake valley can be had, and that in
the extreme southwest part of it, the slope next to the west range
of mountains. The incident here recorded by President Young
is not the incident we are here today to celebrate.

In Mountain Dell

The night of the twenty-third of July, President Young's
company encamped on the east side of Little mountain, in what
is now called Mountain Dell. The next day, the memorable July
24, his company passed over Little mountain, down what we now
call Emigration canyon, out of the mouth of it to the point
where we now are gathered.

And now for the only account of what happened on this
spot 74 years ago. This is given in a discourse by Wilford Wood-
ruff, delivered by him in Salt Lake City on the thirty-third an-
niversary of Pioneer day, 1880:

On the twenty-fourth I drove my carriage, with President Young lying
on a bed in it, into the open valley, the rest of the company following.
When we came out of the canyon into full view of the valley, I turned the

MONUMENT AT PIONEER VIEW 963

side of my carriage around, open to the west, and President Young arose
from his bed and took a survey of the country. While gazing on the scene
before us, he was enwrapped in vision for several minutes. He had seen
the valley before in vision, and upon the occasion he saw the future glory
of Zion and of Israel, as they would be, planted in the valleys of the
mountains. When the vision had passed, he said: "It is enough. This is
the right place. Drive on." So I drove to the encampment already formed
by those who had come along in advance of us.

This is the only direct account given of the incident, "This
is the Place," although Elder Woodruff's lengthy journal entry
for that day, gives strong corroborative testimony of halting to
view the valley upon emerging from the canyon, and of Presi-
dent Young expressing his satisfaction with what he saw. I
quote that part of the journal entry:

Pleasing Thoughts

Our hearts were surely made glad after a hard journey ... to
gaze upon a valley of such vast extent, entirely surrounded with a perfect
chain of everlasting hills and mountains, covered with eternal snows, with
their innumerable peaks like pyramids towering towards heaven, present-
ing at one view the grandest and most sublime scenery that could be ob-
tained on the globe. Thoughts of pleasing meditation ran in rapid suc-
cession through our minds while we contemplated that not many years
hence, and the house of God would stand upon the top of the mountains,
while the valleys would be converted into orchards, vineyards, gardens and
fields by the inhabitants of Zion, and the standard be unfurled for the
nations to gather to. President Young expressed his full satisfaction in the
appearance of the valley as a resting place for the Saints and was amply re-
paid for his journey. After gazing a while upon the scene we traveled across
the tableland four miles to the encampment of our brethren who had ar-
rived two days before us.

The prophetic fervor, the exalted spirituality of this pas-
sage needs no comment; and the corroborative value of the pas-
sage in support of the same man's statement in his discourse is
apparent.

Brigham Young's own account of his entrance into Salt Lake
valley is very simple. In his journal history, yet in manuscript,
he has this entry:

July 24, (1847) I started early this morning, and after crossing Emi-
gration canyon creek eighteen times emerged from the canyon. Encamped
with the main body at 2 o'clock. About noon the five-acre potat* patch
was plowed, when the brethren commenced planting their seed potatoes.
At 5 o'clock a light shower accompanied by thunder and a stiff breeze.

Simplicity of all Great Things

So closes the great leader's account of the pioneer journey
from the Winter Quarters on the banks of the Missouri, to the
valley of the Great Salt Lake, a distance of a thousand miles.
How simple all great things are!

Later there was further confirmation of the right place

964 IMPROVEMENT ERA

having been selected. Returning from a brief exploring trip in
the valley on the afternoon of the 28th President Young said:

Some of the brethren talked about exploring the country further for
a 6ite for a settlement; I replied that I was willing that the country should
be explored until all were satisfied, but every time a party went out and
returned, I believed firmly they would agree that this is the spot for us to
locate. (Journal History of Brighcan Young. Entry for July 28, 1847.)

And now this memorable saying, "This Is The Place," his-
torically established, what about it? Is it the place?

Remember the limitations connected with the declaration.
"President Young expressed his full satisfaction in the appear-
ance of the valley as a resting place for the Saints," is the quali-
fying statement from the journal of Wilford Woodruff. It must
be remembered always that neither Utah nor the adjacent states
of the intermountain west, nor the Pacific coast states mark off
the spatial limits of the work in which the Latter-day Saints are
engaged.

Their mission is to bring to pass the redemption of Zion,
and the whole of America — both her great continents — is Zion.
Their mission is even larger than that; their message is "unto
every nation, and kindred, tongue and people" — a universal
message ; but a special work is to be wrought in the land of Zion,
a work of warning, of admonition; a work of temporal as well
as spiritual import. To hold high the standards of ancient as
well as modern American ideals that shall recognize God in hu-
man affairs, and accept Jesus Christ especially as the "God of
the land" (see Book of Mormon, Ether, II) and the righteous-
ness of the gospel as the moral standard of the people who
should dwell in the land under God's pledge of security.

In this high, and Zion-wide, and world-wide mission, Salt
Lake valley, Utah, the intermountain west is but a "resting
place" for the Saints; broader fields await their activity and
service for humanity. While the valleys of the mountains of
the west may never be deserted by them, those valleys are too
narrow for all their work. But they have answered well for a
resting place. Here the Saints have been preserved as a peo-
ple, their identity has not been lost. The value of their com-
munity life has been demonstrated. The pioneers themselves
were poor when they came into the Salt Lake valley. For years
they went on gathering the poor from the lands whence they
themselves had fled, and then they gathered the poor from the
lands beyond the seas, from England ; from all the British Isles ;
from the Scandinavian countries, from Switzerland, from Ger-
many and from the islands of the seas.

Deserts Subdued
It has been a gathering from nearly all the nations and peo-

MONUMENT AT PIONEER VIEW 965

pies of the earth, a gathering of the poor, and largely with
empty and bare hands the deserts and solitary places have been
subdued and made to yield increase for the sustenance of man;
and meantime the religion and the Church of the Latter-day
Saints, have been preserved, both institutions and the people,
and have been kept constantly in the eyes of the world. This
could scarcely have been done under any other conditions
save those that have obtained in Utah and the surrounding states
during the last seventy-four years.

Suppose President Young and his associates had listened
to the pleadings of very earnest and influential men to pass on
into California, and had there settled their people? What
would have been the result? As a people, as a Church, the
Latter-day Saints, together with their religion, would have been
lost. California now has a population of three and one-half
millions; in ten or fifteen years she is likely to double that
population. Where would the Latter-day Saints have been in
the midst of these millions? Where would have been their op-
portunity to demonstrate the value of their church organiza-
tion, their system of community life — the gathering of the poor,
and teaching them by a system of mutual helpfulness that man
can subdue waste places, make them fruitful and prove that
"states though very poor may yet be very blessed," and at last,
by mutual helpfulness may become affluent in both material
and spiritual riches.

Had Clear Vision

From the commencement of the "Mormon" exodus from Il-
linois and other states, Brigham Young had clear vision of con-
ditions needful for his people. Writing to James K. Polk, presi-
dent of the United States, under date of August 9, 1846, he said :

The cause of our exile we need not repeat. . . . Circumstances have
placed us in our present situation on a journey which we design shall end
in a location west of the Rocky mountains, and within the basin of the
Great Salt Lake, or Bear River valley, as soon as circumstances shall per-
mit believing that to be a point where a good living will require hard
labor, and consequently will be coveted by no other people, while it is
surrounded by so unpopulous but fertile country." (History of Brigham
Young, manuscript, book No. 2, pages 52-3).

As a resting place, then, for the Church of the Latter-day
Saints, as a gathering place; as a place for developing their sys-
tem of religion and their community life, until they should be-
come strong — strong enough for the undertaking of their larger
Zion-wide and world-wide mission — undoubtedly — "This is the
place." This valley stretched forth here at our feet; our Utah, the
whole mountain west — this was and is, for just now, "the right
place."

J66 IMPROVEMENT ERA

From Another Angle

For the purpose of viewing this incident we are celebrating
from another angle, and that not from a sectarian view, let us
ask again,

"Is this the place?"

To that there is but one answer. Look about you and be-
hold what God hath wrought! Behold the miracle wrought
under the blessing of Almighty God, by the toil and suffering
and sacrifice of the pioneers of our state; for to them must be
accorded the honor of laying the foundations and making pos-
sible all that we this day see lying before us, and extending
throughout our state and throughout the surrounding mountain
states. Their labors and achievements extend beyond the boun-
daries of Utah; their community was the parent community of
the mountain west. Utah's state emblem — the bee-hive — repre-
sents more than mere industry, noble as that may be. A bee-
hive suggests swarming and the making of other colonies of
bees; the gathering of more honey to feed more bees and men
with sweets, thus ever multiplying values and extending benef-
icence.

The Gentiles and the Land of Zion

The planting of the Salt Lake colony meant more than the
founding of a resting place for the Latter-day Saints. It neither
comported with the character of that people or with the nature
of their mission to be long isolated from their fellow citizens of
the great republic of the new world. Though regarding them-
selves as remnants of some of the tribes of Israel, gathering
from whence they had been scattered — "sifted," is the Biblical
phrase — among various nations of the earth, and settling in a
"choice land" of larger promise than Palestine, yet they knew
from books accepted by them as of Scripture value that they
held no exclusive title to the land of Zion, or any part of it; for
in their sacred books it is said that "the nations of the Gentiles
shall be great in the eyes of me, saith God." "Wherefore, the
promises of the Lord are great unto the Gentiles, for he hath
spoken it, and who can dispute? And the Gentiles shall be
blessed upon the land. And this land shall be a land of liberty
unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land
who shall raise up unto the Gentiles; and I will fortify this land
against all other nations; and he that fighteth against Zion
[meaning America] shall perish, saith God." (II Nephi X.)

So "This is the place" in the "Mormon" view of it, not
alone for the Latter-day Saints but for the Gentiles also; not
for "Christians" only and our brothers of Judah, but for pagans,
too, if they will come. Looking off there to the northwest, back
of the state capitol, you may see that rounded sugarloaf-shaped

MONUMENT AT PIONEER VIEW 967

hill in the side of the mountain; that is "Ensign Peak," named
so, not because any United States flag was raised upon it on the
26th day of July — as is sometimes erroneously reported — when
visited by Brigham Young and others of the pioneers for the
first time, but because the pioneers had carried with them the
conviction while crossing the plains — and even before that —
that they would yet raise an ensign that would include all the
flags and ensigns of the world — the ensign of humanity. The
spirit of their thought was voiced by one of the apostles of the
Church who followed hard upon the heels of the first pioneers
— Elder Parley P. Pratt — in the hymn, saying:

See on yonder distant mountain,

Zion's standard wide unfurled,
Far above Missouri's fountain,

Lo, it waves for all the world.

Freedom, peace and full salvation

Are the blessings guaranteed,
Liberty to every nation

Every tongue and every creed.

And so following.

All Dwelling in Peace

"This is the place," then, where all may share in the bless-
ings of the land of opportunity. Behold all men dwelling in
peace here, in this, one of the cities of Zion. Jew and Gentile,
"Mormon" and Catholic, believer and skeptic — none more free
than those living here. None more secure in their property
rights and religious freedom — "This is the place," for the en-
joyment of these things.

A Vision of the Past

I wonder if we could banish for a moment what we see be-
fore us at our feet and think of this valley, in part at least, as
it was when Brigham Young halted upon this spot seventy-
four years ago, and, trembling from fever weakness, looked over
the valley and declared this to be the place. Let us try it.

There is no city in view; no smiling country marked with
the careful lines of industry. No fields, no orchards. No paved
or other kinds of roads. No railroads. No smelter smoking
stacks — the mineral wealth of the region was unsuspected. There
is no capitol in the foreground of Ensign peak; no skyscrapers,
no six-towered temple, no cluster of university buildings
crowning Federal heights; no Utah or Newhouse Hotels; no
electric street car system, no electric lights — all these things
have vanished, nothing but the largely arid plain and the sur-
rounding mountains. A few scattered trees and bushes line the
several streams, some of them lost in the plain before reaching

968 IMPROVEMENT ERA

the Utah outlet, as our Jordan river was then called. Millions
of black crickets abound, which later would menace the settlers'
crops and threaten the success of the colony planting. A vast
solitude is brooding over the valley, as it had brooded over it
for ages. Then this pioneer band conies, and the leader of it
stands up here where we now stand, and taking into account
all this that I have feebly described to you, calmly says to his
friends — "This is the place, drive on." And they go to the en-
campment and begin building the city we now see before us.

"This is the Place!"

Prophecy, this! Inspiration, this! Genius! Who can
doubt it when he may behold the confirmation of it in a splendid
city and a great commonwealth? Golden words these — "This is
the place." Cherish them, fellow citizens — young men and
maidens of Utah — make them live now and for the future; and
not alone to express material advantages, but for moral worth
and spiritual power as well. "This is the place," not only for
material advantages, but for the finer things in life as well; for
music, art, and science; for learning and culture; for the de-
velopment of honor and integrity, in the individual, and in
the community life. These are the things of the spirit, they
pertain to the people, and the people are of more importance
than things.

"Money hath but money's value,

Virtue is not bought or sold,
And a nation's wealth is reckoned

From her people, not her gold."

To you all, I commend this view of the words:
"This is the Place"

By Their Fruits

Whom do you worship?
Tell by means of the life that you lead,
Tell through the names of the books that you read;
Tell in the food that you relish the most.
Tell in the times that you stayed at your post.

Tell in the count of good deeds you've done.
Tell by the tales you relate to your friends,
Tell in the record of habits o'ercome,
Tell by the weaklings your courage defends.

Tell by the laws of the gospel obeyed,
Tell from your stand for the right, unafraid,
Tell to yourself through the history you've made
Whom do you ivorship?
Provo, Utah Raymond Partridge

Correct Placing of the Monument,
Pioneer View

By Elder W. W. Riter

My brothers and sisters, and friends— I feel so full of
emotion that it may be with some difficulty that I speak to you.
As I reflected, during the prayer offered by Brother Willard
Young — the son of the man who lay sick in a wagon, on this
spot, seventy-four years ago yesterday— it seemed almost like
an unbelievable romance. It is not my purpose, and it would
not be proper for me to attempt any lengthy talk to you, and
I shall content myself, mostly, by relating to you how I know
this to be the place where Wilford Woodruff swung his wagon
around, and President Brigham Young, leaning on his elbow,
looked from under the wagon curtain, over the valley and said,
"This is the place."

The reason I say that this is the place is because no other
place could be the place. I know there has been considerable
discussion as to just where the place was. Now, let me give
you the evidence that this is the place, which comes first from
my memory. I was a little boy, then only nine years old. I
crossed this same spot ten weeks later, and my memory has
always been, from the beginning, that this is the place. Only
day before yesterday a gentleman called me by phone, who
proposed, as near as I could catch his words, t<i take a number
of boys on a hike to the top of Big Mountain, and he asked me
if I thought it was possible for that to be the place. I told him,
No. He wanted to know if there was any controversy about it.
I told him there could not be. The summit of the Big Mountain
is twelve and three-quarters miles from this spot. I hold in my
hand here the Emigrants' Guide, written by William Clayton
on that memorable trip, and afterwards published in Saint
Louis, in 1848, for the benefit of subsequent travelers. This also
contains the signature of Governor Brigham Young, at the Gov-
ernor's office. (Applause.) In this guide book it is stated that
the distance from the Missouri river to that point is one thou-
sand thirteen and one-quarter miles; and to the city of the
Great Salt Lake, it was about one thousand thirty-one miles ; and
to this spot down in that peach orchard, there, one thousand
and twenty-six miles. The reason I point to that peach orchard
is this: William Clayton measured and kept a record of the dis-
tance from the Missouri river to this valley, taking note of lead-

970

IMPROVEMENT ERA

ing land marks, and in their absence, for five and ten-mile
stretches he used for markers buffalo heads and buffalo skulls,
as the country was strewn with them, in those days. Sometimes
he would find a piece of wood and use that for a marker, to be
driven into the ground. The buffalo skulls, of course, were
loose. He got a piece of wood — something, as I remember, near
the size of my hand, and drove it into the ground as the last
marker, right down in that flat where that peach orchard is.
It was a sandy spot then, but has since been made into an
orchard.

From the summit of the Big Mountain only a portion of
this valley is visible, and President Young could scarcely have
said, there, "This is the place," for the reason that he could
not see it, except a small portion of the valley over there at
the mouth of Bingham Canyon. A few square miles, lying on

On the Summit of Big Mountain

the other side of the valley, is visible from the summit of the
Big Mountain. No other place, between there and here, gives a
view of the whole valley as this does. Strange as it may appear,
between that point of the mountain and the other point of the
mountain, twenty-two miles to the south, I doubt if there is a
spot where the whole valley is unfolded to the view in the same
degree as it is from this place. I shall merely sketch to you a
little of the road from the summit of the Big Mountain. Com-
ing down on this side of the mountain it is very, very, steep, in-
deed. After dead-locking (as we used to call it) both hind
wheels of the wagons, for a distance of something near a quarter
of a mile, even then the wagon would push the cattle or horses,

CORRECT PLACING OF MONUMENT

971

as the case might be, and they would have great difficulty in
keeping the road. After coming down the canyon, the company
continued down that creek to what is now called The Dell.
Afterwards it was Mayor Armstrong's ranch, and it now be-
longs to the City. From there they came on down to what is
called the foot of the Little Mountain. That lies five miles to
the east here; down to the upper edge of what was at one time
Dr. Seymour B. Young's farm; later purchased by the City, and
it is now covered by the waters of the Parley's Creek Reservoir.

On the Summit of Little Mountain

From there they came up the Little Mountain one mile. It was
very steep and the road very tortuous. Then down again on this
side, three-quarters of a mile, to the foot. The old road is now
very visible, as perhaps many of you have seen. In those days
the canyon, above the foot of the Little Mountain was called
Killian's Canyon, and on this side Emigration Canyon.

One year before the coming of the Pioneers a company
called the Donner Party — most of whom, or a large portion of
whom, perished at Donner Lake by starvation, in the fall or
winter of 1846-7 — they came down through this canyon, but
did not stop to make a road. Coming down the canyon, in the
absence of a road they had to follow the creek-bed as much as
possible; and between the mouth of the canyon and the Little
Mountain they crossed the creek thirteen times. When they got
here to the mouth of the canyon there was a ledge of rocks that
pushes its way down to the creek-bed. By the way, you may
have noticed that all these canyons have a kind of a gateway,
composed of hard rocks. Mill Creek canyon looks like it had
been cut out with a knife, and also Big Cottonwood, Little Cot-
tonwood and Ogden canyon, for the reason that there is a ram-

972

IMPROVEMENT ERA

A View of the Old
Pioneer Road on the
Valley Side, Near the
Summit of Little
Mountain.

part of rocks that faces this canyon range for a distance of one
hundred miles, and all these canyons have a narrow passage
way right at the mouth. The Donner party thought they could
not get down over those rocks; neither could they, without some
work; so they turned up over that hill yonder. It is barely
visible, the top of it, from here. It is so steep that Elizabeth
Donner, daughter of George Donner, who afterwards wrote the
history of the trip, said they had to put oxen to the wagons,
that reached all the way from the bottom of the hill to the top
of the hill, to pull the wagons up ; and then they went down this
side of the creek and followed it straight to the Jordan river,
crossing the Jordan river in what was afterwards called the
Fifth ward pasture, right opposite to the Fifth ward, and then
on to the west.

When the vanguard of the Pioneers came along, they
thought it better to work a passageway down the creek. So they
stopped and broke off some of the rocks and cut down some of
the trees. There was a large grove of trees growing right in

CORRECT PLACING OF MONUMENT 973

the mouth of that defile. They cut off the trees and left the
stumps about a foot high. It was a very stumpy piece of road,
and a very rocky piece of road as well. Instead of coming over
that exceedingly steep hill, they came down through here.
When they got to the upper edge of this peach orchard, here,
they could not get through. By the by, a good many have
claimed that they went over what is called the Hogback —
this ridge right below here. If you will go down there and note
how the hogback was originally, you will see that was ab-
solutely impossible; but I am inclined to think that even if they
could, no view of the valley could be had from that point. That
passageway was cut through there, at various times, from year
to year; but originally it was absolutely impassable. They
turned up to the right and came up pretty nearly where this
present road is — and by the way, the old road is entirely obliter-
ated, except a little stretch in the oak brush. If you care to
go down there, after this meeting, you will find the remnant of
the old Pioneer road, coming up through the oak-brush. From
there down it has been dug away to get dirt and for various
other reasons; so that scarcely any vestige, practically no vestige
of the old road is left, except this little stretch, right down here
in this patch of oak brush. From this point after getting out
onto the bench, they struck almost due west. They went down
off the bench on Ninth South, right there by Mrs. Gilmer's
place. The reason for going down there was this: That bench
originally, from the neighborhood of the High School, there,
clean away up to the mouth of Dry Creek, was covered with
rocks. They were hauled away in the course of the years, and
were used for foundations in the houses. The hill was too
rocky to make the passage down, but they found free passage on
down Ninth South. They took a straight "bee-line," crossing
City Creek, right behind the old Methodist Church. Years
later the road was changed somewhat, and they struck off in
a northwest direction, so they struck the bench where it com-
mences to decline, at the head of Third South Street. Some of
you may remember that in an early day Third South was called
Emigration Street, and it was so called up until the last thirty
years; for the reason that it was down that street the emi-
grants poured, in those early days; not only the emigrants of
the Latter-day Saints but the emigrants for California as well.
I am very sorry that the name of that street was ever changed
to Third South, for it was truly Emigration Street.

Now, I don't know but I am trespassing on the time of
the man who is to follow me. I want to say just a word or two
in regard to the Pioneers; and if I say things in their favor, 1
want to distinctly disclaim that I am speaking of myselt. 1 was

974

IMPROVEMENT ERA

only nine years old when we came to this place — a boy of ex-
cellent memory, by the way. I came here involuntarily. I came
with my parents, so I am not entitled to any of the praise that
might be given to the Pioneers. If I had been a grown man
and had the use of my own free will, I don't know that I would
have had the courage to have embarked on such an enterprise. I
have on my desk the names of the Pioneers of '47, exclusive of

Hon. W. W. Riter

the four hundred of the Mormon Battalion who came the same
fall. There are in the neighborhood of sixteen hundred, I think.
I frequently take it down and look it over, and I call up to my
view, to my memory, the faces and the looks of hundreds of
those pioneers, especially the men. Having an excellent mem-
ory, as I told you, I can remember where their lots were, where
they got their five-acre lots, their oxen and their horses, and
many things pertaining to them. I have asked myself this ques-
tion, many times : "What was it that gave those men the strength

CORRECT PLACING OF MONUMENT 975

to endure the hardships that they endured?" You will re-
member that when our people started from Nauvoo they only
followed the setting sun. They did not know where they were
going. There was an indefinite idea that they were going to
California; for you may remember that in some of the old edi-
tions of our hymn book there is a hymn : "In Upper California —
Oh, that's the land for me!" True, this was California then; it
was Mexican territory until February of the following year.
They were led by a sublime faith. As I remember them, they
were a class of men who could raise their hands to high heaven
and say: "I know Joseph Smith is a prophet; I know that Brig-
ham Young is his successor; I know that this is the Kingdom of
God, and that it will triumph in the earth." It was this that sus-
tained them; it was this that enabled them to endure the ter-
rific hardships which they did endure. I have frequently said,
and I repeat it now: The story and description of the hard-
ships of the early Pioneers of this country never has been writ-
ten, and I doubt if it can be written. Those honest souls who
trudged over these arid places were buoyed by a power that
they themselves did not understand. I doubt if Brigham Young
himself, when he was on this spot — prostrated with mountain
fever, which is a species of typhoid fever and most exhausting
to the human frame — I doubt if he himself, prophet though he
was, realized just what the power was that was with him. He
said, "This is the place."

When I came along with my parents, ten weeks later, and
came to this same spot, and everybody, of course, got up on the
hill here to view the valley, it struck me that this was not the
place — (laughter and applause) — and if I had been a man, I
don't know whether I would have had the courage to say: "We
will stay here this winter." But that was not the case, as a rule,
with the great band of pioneers. The most of them believed it
was the place. I well remember I drove a yoke of oxen, hitched
to a light wagon, from here to the valley; and from the marker,
down there in the peach orchard, to this side of the old fort,
where the Covey Brothers have built an apartment house, there
used to be a spring. That water ran until a few years ago, when
the sewer dried up that spring. Five hundred wagons had passed
down there. The soil was very dry and it was cut up from four
to six inches deep. I thought that was the longest five miles
and the hottest afternoon that I had ever experienced.
(Laughter.) I was not alone in my dismal forebodings; and I
don't know that I was inexcusable, as a child, in my narrow
vision, to have those dismal forebodings; but somehow, every-
thing seemed dry and drear.

I don't want to prolong my remarks; but I want to say this:

976 IMPROVEMENT ERA

That marker says: "This is the place!" To the civilization that
lies west of the Mississippi river that is the same kind of an
emblem that Plymouth Rock is on the Atlantic coast, that
marked the spot of the landing of the New England fathers
(applause). That monument at Plymouth was the commence-
ment of a civilization that has passed around the earth. This
monument here is the marker of a civilization that has subdued
this entire country between the Missouri river and the Pacific
ocean (applause). And I just want to say: God bless those
sturdy Pioneers; God bless their memories; God bless their
faith; God bless their works, forever. Amen.

By Elder Alma Eldredge

If it would be admissible, President Ivins, I would like
to give my evidence to substantiate, further, the remarks of
Brother Riter.

President Ivins: Proceed, Brother Eldredge.

Brother Eldredge, continuing: Ephraim Knowlton Hanks
went around with the Battalion. He arrived in Salt Lake, re-
turning from California, before the Pioneer company started
to return to Winter Quarters. When he reached the first com-
pany of families, coming West, which was Daniel Spencer's
fifty— (he was an own cousin to my father, and a young man)
he stopped with the train and came back with the company. The
night the train camped at the foot of the Big Mountain, he told
the men how they could look over the valley here, when they
should emerge from this canyon. Three of them were terribly
anxious to have a "look;" and the first thing in the morning
they got on their horses. There was one horse for Ephraim
Hanks; he took me on the pony behind him; and they came
down through here (indicating), about ten o'clock in the morn-
ing. He turned a kind of a horseshoe and came around up this
swale, and when he got here he said: "Cousin, here is where
President Young stopped and looked over the valley, and
said, "This is the place." (Applause)

President Ivins: I feel quite certain that these few clouds
and this little sprinkle of rain [a little thunder shower passed
over during the exercises] would have been very welcome to the
Pioneers seventy-four years ago; so we will not worry aboul
that.

Example

By Elder George F. Richards, of the Council of the Twelve

The gospel was made for man and is a most perfect plan
of life, calculated to guide men and women into paths of peace,
joy, hope and salvation. It is the plan taught and lived by Jesus
Christ and which made him what he is. It is calculated to make
us like him and to save us with him. It is the straight gate and
the narrow way which leadeth to everlasting life. Our lives
should be always in complete harmony with the gospel and with
the life and example of our great prototype, the Savior of the
world. When they are not, we would have the world know that
it is because of the inconsistencies in our lives, rather than in
the gospel, for the gospel is consistent, therefore, when they see
in us that which is not commendable, they should know that
it is due to our deviations from the gospel law, which devia-
tions, on our part, do not and cannot in the least nullify the
law, nor make the truth an untruth, nor do they make unneces-
sary any ordinance of the gospel. The folly of the expression,
referring to men's weaknesses, "If that is the gospel, I want
none of it," must appeal to the intelligent mind. People should
be able to differentiate between principles and the actions of
men, and not pin their faith to human beings. Nevertheless,
there are some who thus judge. The Lord understood that such
was the case, hence gave the command, "Let your light so shine
among men that others seeing your good works will glorify
•your Father which is in heaven." Because this is the case, Lat-
ter-day Saints are admonished to be careful to live lives con-
sistent with their profession of faith. If we deviate too far from
the law the enacting clause of our salvation is in danger of being
stricken out. A good example on the part of Latter-day Saints
is a potent means of allaying prejudice in the minds of others;
so that, in passing judgment upon religion, the greatest question
in which men are interested that judgment may be of an un-
biased character, hence, more likely to be correct. A good ex-
ample gives us influence for good, both as individuals and as
officers. It means for us happiness and salvation. It means al-
most as much for our children in the generations that follow.

Henry Ward Beecher says, "It is historically true that
Christianity did not, in its beginning, succeed by the force of
doctrine, but by the lives of its disciples. It was the beauty of

*78 IMPROVEMENT ERA

Christian life that overcame philosophy and won the way for
Christian doctrine. Make religion attractive by the goodness
that men see in you; be so sweet, so sparkling, so buoyant, so
cheerful, hopeful, courageous, conscientious and yet not stub-
born, so perfectly benevolent and yet not mawkish or senti-
mental; blossoming in everything that is good, a rebuke to
everything that is mean or little — make such men of yourselves
that everybody who looks upon you may say, 'That is a royal
good fellow; he has the spirit that I should like to lean upon in
time of trouble, or to be a companion with at all times.' Build
up such manhood that it shall be winning to men — That is what
the early Christians did." We should so live and act that, should
others follow our example, they will be the better for it.

When Moses came down out of the mount after having been
with the Lord, his face shone so that the people could not look
upon his unveiled face. We are expected, by the Lord, to be
witnesses for him in the world. The greatest testimony to Di-
vine truth is that of a good life. Christ is the hidden source of
the light of the world. We should be able to draw from him that
influence by which to dispel some portion of the spiritual dark-
ness around us. Our good life and example not only glorifies
the name of the Lord, but it glorifies us also.

That the lives of others with whom we associate are affected
by our lives, is made impressive by the following from O. S.
Marden: "The poet's 4I am a part of all that I have met,' is
not a mere poetic flight of fancy; it is an absolute truth. Every-
thing, every sermon, or lecture, or conversation, you have heard,
every person who has touched your life, has left an impression
upon your character, and you are never quite the same person
after the association or experience."

There should be such a manifestation of love among us
that others not of us would be attracted toward us, and be led
to an investigation of our religion, that which has made us what
we are. When there is discord, division or contention among
us, we drive from us those who otherwise would be investiga-
tors and possibly members. Under such circumstances we hinder
instead of help the Lord with his work — "What you are,
speaks so loud, we cannot hear what you say." "Feed the flock
of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by
constraint, but willingly ; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready
mind; neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ex-
amples to the flock." (I Peter 5:2-4.) "Example sheds a genial
ray of light which men are apt to borrow." The lender is not
impoverished by the lending. Both are enriched thereby.

If the gospel has not reformed our lives, it has failed of its
purpose so far as we are concerned, and our example will

EXAMPLE 979

scarcely be helpful to others. If we have lived according to
what we know to be right, ours will be a commendable example
worthy the emulation of others. It is natural for the son to de-
sire to become like his father and to do things as his father does
them. This suggests that we should be very careful to do that
which should our children follow in our footsteps, will make
them safe:

The Bridge Builder

"A.n old man, going a lone highway,

Came, at the evening, cold and gray.

To a chasm vast and deep and wide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim,

The sullen stream had no fear for him;

But he turned when safe on the other side

And built a bridge to span the tide.

'Old man,' said a fellow pilgrim near,

'You are wasting your strength with building here;

Your journey will end with the ending day,

You never again will pass this way.

You've crossed the chasm deep and wide;

Why build you this bridge at eventide?'

The builder lifted his old, gray head —

'Good friend, in the path I have come,' he said,

'There followeth after me today,

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm that has been as naught to me,

To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim —

Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.' "

Help It On

By Ida L. Belnap

Oh, the M. I. A., help it on! 'Tis a work of love, help it on!

Oh, the M. I. A., help it on! 'Tis a work of love, help it on!

It is full of life and cheer, For our cause is just and true,

And to you'll be ever dear; With an honest end in view,

Help it on, on, on! And to you'll be ever dear;

Help it on, on, on!

When the right shall win, help it on!
When the right shall win, help it on!
There will be no strife nor sin,
And the good time shall begin,
In the M. I. A.
Help it going on!
Prov; Utah.

The Water Fairy

By Wreno Bowers

One day, while following a deer path that wound along
the hank of a canyon stream, I came suddenly upon a small
bird standing upon a half-submerged rock in the center of the
seething current. The water rushed madly by, dancing, boil-
ing, foaming over its boulder-strewn bed. As I stopped abruptly,
surprised at the small fellow-creature on the rock, in the middle
of the dashing torrent, the bird slipped into the water and
went whirling down through the foaming eddies.

Ah, poor thing! had I frightened it to death? Surely the
wild current had beaten all the life from the delicate body
that went whirling down, like a leaf among the beaten foam-
bells. But no — for out of the water, a dozen feet below,
scrambled the bird. He stood upon a slippery, rounded stone,
bending his leg-joints and dropping his plump litttie body for
a second, then bobbing up to his fullest height, down and up,
down and up, he repeated the performance again and again.
Then he burst out into a song as joyous as the meadowlark's
when he "mounts to hail the rising sun."

That was the beginning of a long acquaintance with the
little water fairy. It was also the first of many social calls upon
a whole colony of water ouzels that lived in the cascades, a
quarter of a mile up the stream from my tent. Rain or shine,
winter or summer, these water fairies are the sunniest, cheeriest
folk to be found anywhere in the mountains. We grew to be
such great friends that I moved my tent up by the water falls
where I could be with them.

It was good to live there among them, with the moun-
tains at our backs and the cascades at our feet, and peace breath-
ing in every breeze or brooding silently over the place at twi-
light. The little water ouzel, smaller than a robin, is the most
remarkable of feathered creatures, a very wizard in turning its
powers to almost every form of bird doings. It is the one
American, at least, who escapes the taunt which foreigners are
wont to fling at the peculiar genius of our people — that we are
jack-of -all-trades and masters of none; for it is a master in the
several vocations of bird craft, whether of song or of flight, or
of gymnastics in air, on the land, or in water. No wonder it
is called "the wonder bird of America."

By day I used to listen to them, hours at a time, as they
sang their blithesome songs. No snow-storm, however violent,
can discourage the ouzel; for in the midst of it, when men are

THE WATER FAIRY 981

cold and pitying him, thinking how cold he must be, he will
suddenly dart away, light upon a half-submerged rock, and
break out into a joyous song. It is in winter, when the streams
are frozen, that he sings most cheerfully — as if he knows that
the mountains are brighter for his singing.

I used to watch them at their curious teetering on the rocks
in the middle of the seething current, diving under the water,
and searching among the mosses and submerged rocks for their
favorite food. Their food is comprised both of insects and
vegetation. Ouzels swim dexterously when necessary, although
they are not web-footed, and dive long distances, although they
are nothing like a duck or a loon. Since their feet will not aid
them in propelling themselves while diving under water, they
must use their wings for this purpose; and they use them with
great skill, either against or with the current. Indeed, it is
fascinating to watch them as they float upon the gentle-moving
current, or flit about in the curtain spray, or dive in the foam-
ing eddies.

These fine, brilliant, fearlesss, dexterous, poetic, and mu-
sical birds are fairly common in the Rocky Mountain West.
The ouzel is the only dipper bird found anywhere on this con-
tinent, and is peculiar to the West. It is the only member of
the dipper family in North America — there is one species in
Europe and another in South America.

Since the first day I made the acquaintance of the water
ouzel I have never visited a waterfall, or cascade, whether
among the ice peaks or warm foothills, without finding this
singularly joyous and lovable little fellow. No canyon is too
cold for him, none too lonely, providing it is rich in falling
water. Find a fall, or cascade, or rushing rapid anywhere upon
a clear stream, and there you will surely find its complementary
ouzel. The cascade is his home and he never leaves the mean-
dering brook, never being seen to alight in trees, although he
has the claws of a perching bird. He is ever vigorous and en-
thusiastic, yet self-contained, never seeking nor shunning your
company.

But of all the ouzels, — and there were many that I soon
recognized, either by their songs, or by some peculiarity in their
plain waterproof suit of bluish gray, — the most interesting was
the one who first plunged into* the water, where the turmoil
was maddest, and went spinning down, just to show me how
it was done. I soon learned to distinguish him easily, by the
tinge of chocolate on his head and shoulders. Then, too, he
was more friendly and fearless than all the others.

His mate was much shyer than he; it was several days
before I noticed her dipping in the foam-bells. I soon learned
that her nest was built among the rocks, behind a cascade; for

982 IMPROVEMENT ERA

I often watched her coming and going. I have no doubt that
the little ouzel with the chocolate cap would have welcomed
me to see the nest without fear; but his mate never laid aside
her shyness about it, and I knew he would like me better if
I respected her little secret.

So I never saw the nest, though it was scarcely fifty yards
from my tent, until after the young had left it, and the ouzels
cared no more about it. I knew the rocks in which it was, close
by the deer path. It was a mossy, bulky, oven-shaped struc-
ture, and in order to keep out storm was open only on the side.

One day, not long after I had moved up among them, as I
sat at a late breakfast after a morning's hike, I heard a strange
cry that arose from the creek. I went out to see what it was,
and there on a tiny ledge, level with the water, stood four baby
ouzels in great excitement. Four plump little bodies bobbing
excitedly down and up, constanly watching the water as if ex-
pecting somebody. No doubt they were; for out of the water,
upon the ledge beside them, scrambled at that moment the
mother ouzel. She gave a poke into one of the wide open
mouths, then slipped back into the water again.

A hundred times I have had a heart-warming over the
little family, as the mother searched among the mosses, lichens,
and submerged rocks for their favorite food. She began by
mounting one of these slippery, rounded stones and thrusting
her head under the water up to her shoulders. Holding it there
for a few seconds, apparently looking for something, she would
then plunge in where the turmoil was maddest, pick something
from the bottom, and, returning to the ledge, give it to one
of the hungry babies. She never even shook herself. The food
which she brought, every few minutes, looked like minute insect
larva. Time and again this hard working mother jumped into
the brook where it was shallow, ran down it, half under water,
and stopped on the very brink of the lower fall, where one
would think she could not even stand much less than turn and
run back against the current, which she freely did. Now and
then she ran or flew up the stream, entirely under water, so
that I could see her only as a dark colored moving object, and
then come out all fresh and dry beside her babes, with a mouth-
ful of food.

The little ouzels grew amazingly, and no wonder! The
kind mother was always feeding them, they were always hungry.
They grew fat and sleek, and, were soon doing all kinds of gym-
nastics among the foam-bells. The last I saw of them, when I
left the mountains for another year, they were flitting about
like water fairies in the spray. And the little friend with the
chocolate cap was standing on a rock at his curious teetering, or
"curtsying," and singing as cheery as ever.
Kmmas, Utah

Joseph H. Dobson, D. D. D.

(Written for the Improvement Era.)

The door flew shut with a rousing bang, and Joe's rubber-
soled Gym" shoes struck the porch floor just twice, before his
soft foot-falls died away in a lively run down the path. To be
sure, he was in a great hurry, but the closing door had empha-
sized more than haste.

His sister Nora was in a tearful rage that he had upset a
chair loaded with some of her newly-ironed finery, and little
Jim and Sammy howled loudly that his reckless foot had upset
their stately blockhouse. Joe had left the supper table abruptly
in order to be on time for some special affair at the gymnasium,
and after getting into hot water with nearly every member of
the household, about his suit, his cap, and other matters of
dress or fancy, had decided no one cared a cent for his rights,
and shifting the dignity of his seventeen years into high gear,
had driven straight over everything and everybody to his object,
and left the house in high dudgeon.

But high dudgeon had come to be the popular rage in the
Dobson home, and now Nora was using it to telling purpose in
preparing herself for a party. Little Jim caught the spirit and
threw a block at Sammy, though he had suffered a brisk spank-
ing for this very offense not an hour before. Eliza had been in
a tiff with her Ma in the pantry, from which she came forth in
an ugly mood, and Pa Dobson sat back with his newspaper in
a corner, too disgusted with the bedlam to know or care what
he read.

This bedlam story was of long standing. He and Ma had
worried about it and tried to formulate a plan to correct it, but
it grew worse and not better. Of course, it may be that right now
he should have been assisting Mrs. Dobson with work in the
kitchen, and taking more of a hand in making matters go peace-
fully, but he was tired, only half well, and worried to death
about things in general. The noisy unpleasantries of this same
bedlam had died away behind him when he went to work in the
morning, it had greeted him at his approach for dinner, and
had been the main thing all evening.

Of course, Joe had been the one to stir matters up to a high
pitch tonight, but every member was able and in practice, and
Pa Dobson recalled times when he had given the signal for the

984 IMPROVEMENT ERA

daily fuss. Twice when he had thought to make a general clean
up with a keen willow, it threw matters unduly out of poise
for three days thereafter. Several times he had even had sharp
words with Ma, and she had learned with the years to give him
as good as he offered.

He shrugged his shoulders, and dropping his paper saw the
two little brothers fighting fiercely on the carpet. He would
hold the spirit of the fight out of his own soul, he would be
calm with the belligerents, and pacify them with persuasion, but
when little Jim hit the other a vicious lick in the eye, Pa sprang
from his chair and delivered half a dozen resounding flat licks
on a pair of tight-fitting small trousers, before his ideals of calm-
ness had time to mature. Settling back in his chair, he listened
to one son cry with pain, while the other looked on and re-
joiced. "Pa Dobson," he said to himself, "you're the author of
all this confusion, and the stupidest old fool in the family."

Joe returned late in the evening to find his father sitting
alone by the fire, not reading, but simply looking pensively into
the dying embers.

"Anything I can do for you?" asked the boy feeling sure
something had slipped out of joint.

"I'm afraid not, son," and his father betrayed his discour-
agement, in spite of his kindness. "Anything I can do to help
you?"

There was something Pa could do for Joe, though this
might not be the time and place to mention it. Still he muct
know what the trouble might be. "Well, yes, there is some-
thing you might do for me," he faltered, "though you may be
too much taken up with your affairs just now to consider it."

"What is it," Pa asked, still in kindly tones.

"Was you in real earnest when you said school isn't worth
the trouble? Is this really my last year? I'm mighty anxious to
go some more; in fact, I won't ever be satisfied without going
to college and getting a degree."

Pa scratched his head — this school business had been an-
other bone of contention, and he had resolved when Joe went
out of the door this very evening that it was settled once and
for all. But there must be no more unpleasantness tonight. He
looked at the coals and Joe waited in silence. "I'll tell you,
son," he broke forth, "I want something, too, and like you, I
want it mighty bad. If you'll give what I want, I'll give you
what you want."

"I want a scholarship and a degree," bubbled the high
school boy in a burst of hope, forgetting for the moment ev-
erything but his cherished hope, and forgetting, too, how im-
possible it might be to pay the price in question. But as a more

JOSEPH H. DOBSON, D. D. D. 985

conservative thought, and growing curious again, "What is the
thing you want?" he asked.

"I want peace in this home. If you'll tell how to make
things go, and keep going here, as smoothly and sweetly and
lovingly as they go over there at Johnson's, your free scholar-
ship and your degree is assured."

It was Joe's turn to stare at the fire, and he gave vent to a
low whistle of surprised defeat. He wouldn't undertake it —
his father had already foreseen that. But as Joe started for bed
he stopped at the door and said, with a trace of resolution, "I'll
think about it."

A week passed in the Dobson home much the same as other
weeks had passed with bitter words and general hard feelings
over trivial things. But more alarming than usual, Nora had
a sharp collision with her mother, and another with Eliza, and
then announced her intention of leaving home. Yet Pa, in his
distress and discouragement, cherished the belief that there was
a little change for the better in Joe.

One evening the big high school boy sat still at his books
while the quarreling factions moved off to the stairs, and he
continued quietly there until the contentions over pillows,
gowns and other matters, died away in the upper rooms. "Say,
Pa," he broke forth, turning to his parents with a tone which
caught their attention, "are you in earnest about that offer
you made the other night?"

"What's that?" asked Mrs. Dobson, and when Pa explained
it, somewhat to her surprise, she considered it a minute in si-
lence. "Well, I should say he does mean it," she broke forth in
ecstasy. "If your father made any such promise to you, he'll
surely keep it — we'll both keep it."

"You bet we will, son," Dobson added, still feeling per-
fectly safe.

"And the degree, too?"

"Yes, by George, I'll see that you get a better degree than
anybody holds in town."

That some powerful pull was active to keep Joe along with
his aspiring class, was perfectly clear to Pa Dobson, and at first
he made sure it was the influence of George Reed and Bill
Brown, Joe's bosom companions. In his eagerness to accom-
plish the strange feat and win the coveted scholarship, Jo-
would sit long minutes at a time simply studying the vexing
home problem, and then he would go over to Johnson's, seem-
ingly to study the desired ideal. But as the winter wore away,
he seemed to spend more time at Johnson's than at home, and
stranger still, Leah Johnson was about the only member of the
family he looked to for inspiration.

f86 IMPROVEMENT ERA

His studies at school and his big problem at home seemed
one and the same thing, and he buried himself in their general
substance, with his favorite subject of mechanics and machin-
ery, seemingly at the very bottom of all of them. The system
and persistence with which he pursued his studios at school, con-
sidered conditions at home and then at Johnsons, indicated he
had called his father's bluff in dead earnest. His father had re-
garded it only as a bluff, safe and sure in its nature, but the
safety of the thing seemed somehow to be failing. And twice
Joe had concealed a handful of notes in such a way as to set Pa
Dobson's curiosity in a perfect ferment.

And whenever Joe came from Johnson's, he had Leah's
kindly tones and winning accents so pronounced in his voice,
that his arrival meant oil on the troubled waters. His use of
these things at first had been somewhat of a laughable misfit,
but they soon became perfectly natural, and the earnestness
with which he used them, cheated him out of knowing the real
fury with which life was lived in his home when he was away.
Sometimes Leah herself came over, and everything grew calm
and sweet as if in the presence of an angel.

"Say, do you realize that boy's taxing his brain and his wits
to the limit on the strength of your offer?" asked Mrs. Dobson,
when she and Pa were together one evening.

"You bet I do," he answered, shaking his head in pleased
perplexity, "and if I'm any judge, Leah Johnson is conspiring
with him to put the deal over."

"Well, what if he makes it?"

"Oh, I — hardly think he can. If he does, I'll have to come
across with my part of the contract, even if I have to sell some
land."

"What about the degree?"

Pa scratched his head and frowned, "I'll have to hatch on
something along that line, too," he admitted.

Somehow Joe became more and more an object of cu-
riosity, and even reverence as the game proceeded, and somehow
Pa and Ma waxed almost too curious to wait and see what sort
of move their son would make next. He steered out of most
all unpleasantness at home, unless it were to act as pacifier,
though he took his part of the work more willingly than ever
before, and he persuaded Nora to give up the notion of leav-
ing home. Several times his face flushed at what he heard, but
he maintained his composure, even though he had to retreat to
Johnson's.

The power of this aspiring school boy would have revolu-
tionized that household in time, even without any further step
to better plans, but the two older Dob sons felt sure he would
make greater strides yet, and they waited eagerly. Their curi-

JOSEPH H. DOBSON, D. D. D. *87

osity was excited to a great pitch when he betrayed an impulse
to say something unusual, just after they had taken part in one
of the wordy "free for alls," still common with the Dobsons, but
he refrained, as if awaiting opportunity.

Spring came and school was soon to be out, when Joe asked
his father, one morning, "Will you have faith in my plan to let
it apply to you and Ma?"

Dobson had all but said, "Sure thing," when the impropriety
of promising obedience to his son struck hard on his pride.
"Well now, son, when it comes to telling me and your mother
what to do, there's a — "

"Your arrangement admits there is something wrong, and
that you don't know how to correct it. I can't prove my cure
without being allowed to apply it."

To Pa it was an unlooked for phase of the question, and it
might have ridiculous consequences. "I'll keep my part of this
contract," he affirmed, trying to look perfectly just, but feeling
decidedly disturbed, and Joe departed dejectedly to join Leah
Johnson on her way to school.

"I've been amused at Joe's efforts," Pa declared, when he
found Mrs. Dobson in the kitchen, "but I'm afraid he's going
to expect something we can't give."

"Why, how so?" she demanded in surprise.

"He seems to think we should do as he says while he proves
some theory of his."

"Oh, well, we don't need to be alarmed, he's too nearly
right on this question to ask anything wrong, and he mustn't
get the idea that we're weakening on this contract when it has
come to mean so much to him. I actually believe it is the only
thing he and Leah ever talk about, and I am delighted with the
success of their efforts."

"His demands may not be exactly wrong, and yet he may
get us into a ridiculous position."

Ma still felt assured it would turn out well, but Pa had his
doubts, and was relieved in his feelings that afternoon when Joe
asked if they would listen three evenings later to a few things
he had written.

During those three days, something akin to peace seemed
to have arrived at the Dobson home; and, on the evening ap-
pointed, the children were induced to retire early, and Joe found
his two listeners ready and alone at eight.

"This mustn't be judged for its literary worth," he apolo-
gized, "I've simply tried to get a few things down clearly enough
to be understood. I was afraid I couldn't tell it, so I've written
it, and I'd like to ask that if you have any serious objections to
offer, you wait with them till some other time."

988 IMPROVEMENT ERA

"Ways to Prevent Grating Contact and to Soften Hard Col-
lisions."

As he read the headline, his listeners strained their at-
tention:

"Everything which is to work continuously, must work
smoothly; if the parts grate on one another, or come into sharp
collision, they will break or wear out and go to pieces. Where
two hard surfaces are to come against each other, their contact
must be softened with pads or springs. If they are to pass
closely by each other, oil should be provided to prevent fric-
tion.

"The most smooth-running machinery, is propelled by the
most steady, easy power. The gentle pull of electricity is easier
than the pounding power of steam on machinery.

"And if a knuckle or cylinder becomes heated, we modify
that heat with something cool, not with something hot.

"If a surface becomes lacerated and jagged, from rough
contact with another surface, it will cut every surface it touches
until it becomes smooth. These things must be watched for
and treated before they ruin a whole valuable machine.

"A great train is switched from one track to another, simply
by shifting a small frog at the forks of the road ahead, and the
turn is made gently and gradually without a jar.

"The springs, the pads and the oil are necessary in all suc-
cessful human intercourse, and the fine frog in the forks of their
track from one line to another, must be handled with care.
There must be the cooling lotion for the hot places, and the
power which propels it must by all means be smooth and
steady, like an electric current.

"Nations get along peacefully with one another only by the
wise use of these means, and this is all that holds business to-
gether, and makes it run smoothly. Without it, men could not
live in peace together in towns and cities.

"Business concerns and even nations sometimes make great
compromises to avoid a hard collision.

"In the family with no springs to soften the collision, no
oil to prevent one part from wearing another, the family organ-
ization soon wears out and falls to pieces. And the hot place
in the family cannot be cooled with heat, no more than the fast
train can be made to jump straight over from one track to an-
other without a wreck. The family machine, like any other
machine, runs more smoothly and effectively with the steady
pull of electricity, than with the pounding power of steam."

Pa Dobson stared at the fire and heard every word, regard-
ing himself as an engine, instead of a magnet, and not looking
up to answer the glances of his wife.

JOSEPH H. DOBSON, D. D. D. 989

"The springs, the pads and the oil in the family," Joe read
on, "cannot be described, they are intangible, — they are in the
gesture, in the look and the tone, but they fit best in words like
these: Sure thing; well, I'm awful sorry; if you please; would I
be asking too much — "

He continued with a long list in which Leah Johnson was
always too plainly heard to leave anyone in doubt as to where
he got his inspiration, and Pa Dobson reflected that in the
Johnson home there were no sharp collisions, and no one part
wearing unduly on another.

"In words like these," Joe proceeded, "there are no springs,
no oil; the collision is a sad crash, and the two rough bodies
grate by each other with a rasping sound: Get out of the way;
I won't do anything of the sort; Do for goodness sake shut up
a little while; I'm always asked to do more than my share; No
sir, I won't wait a minute, you must go right now."

The lopg list of similar things were from the D«bson home
and from nowhere else.

The paper was finished. It could have been made more
clear and complete, but Pa had supplemented it with many
ideas of his own, and he was still building on it and looking at
the fire when Joe folded the precious sheet and bade them,
good night.

"He's perfectly right," declared Dobson, as soon a3 they
were alone nodding his head with decision, and the two sat
there till a late hour, talking and planning and confessing as
they had never done before.

Still fearful, Joe might want to tell him how and where to
begin on the new plan, Pa hastened in the early morning to his
son's room. "Well son," he began, with unconcealed approval,
"I must say I like your idea, and I'd like full latitude to en-
force it until — "

"May be it would be better applied than enforced," Joe
suggested, when his father paused.

"Yes, that's right — I apply it and you have the scholarship
just the same."

"And the degree?"

"Well — er — yes, sure."

When the Dobson swarm came out of bed, the usual din,
now somewhat modified, began to rend the air, but Pa and Ma,
by solemn resolution and premeditated plan, moved among them
with a magic they had never exercised before.

Then Nora, stopping in the midst of her work, looked in
surprise from her father to her mother. "Why, Ma!" she asked
in a hoarse whisper, "has somebody died in the night?"

"Why do you ask that?" her mother questioned in surprise.

990 IMPROVEMENT ERA

"You and Pa have heard something," she insisted, all but
bursting into tears.

Ma didn't deny they had "heard something," but she paci-
fic 1 Nora with some good natured pleasantry, and everyone in
the house began to show symptoms of the new order. Pa took
account of the magic change, and resolved to "apply" the new
method, with more diligence than he had enforced the steam
power all these years.

The anniversary of Joe's birthday arrived late in May, and
when he reached the big front room in the evening, behold a
surprise party. George and Bill, in fact the whole class were
present, and better still, all of the Johnsons. They had music
and games and ice cream, just the kind of time to be remem-
bered always, but the most wonderful feature of the party, was
the great love of the whole family for Joe, and his tender regard
for everyone of them, as shown in some strange way by every
exercise of the evening.

The young folks departed at eleven o'clock, but the John-
sons stayed, Leah with them, for Pa had arranged a little desert
affair, and when quiet prevailed again, he brought out what
seemed to be a diploma, on stiff classy paper, and tied with a
delicate ribbon. He read it himself, and it began: "Degree of
Merit. This certifies that Joseph H. Dobson is entitled to the
degree of Doctor of Domestic Diplomacy. This degree is granted
by the whole Dobson family, with their love and gratitude and
best wishes for a successful school career."

It was signed by each member of the family able to write,
and by the scrawling crosses of little Jim and Sammy.

Joe hardly understood why he should sit there and sniff
like a baby, but Ma and the girls were sniffing, too, in a way
hardly intended for company, and Pa came so near choking up,
as he read, that he had to turn it off by relating a joke or two
of his own. "Leah, when I come to think about it," he said,
"we ought by all means to have had you in on this degree."

"I had no idea what he was doing," she declared, "he never
once mentioned it to me," and the sympathy of her genial voice
all but started the tears again. She seemed to know all about
it now, in fact Pa and Ma had explained the nature of the party,
and the "Johnsonses" and "Dobsonses," had drawn wonderfully
near together in their sympathies.

It is now somewhat more than six years since that birthday
party at Dobson's, where Joe received his first degree. The
machinery of the Dobson household has been supplied with
springs and pads and oil, with frogs at every switch, with cool-
ing lotion for the hot places, and with the steady, even, per-

JOSEPH H. DOBSON, D. D. D. 991

suasive power at the head, so that all the different parts articu-
late with one another in perfect time.

As a result, it has been easy to keep Joe and Nora in school,
and they have been climbing, climbing. Joe's latest letter says,
"I shall receive my B. S. A. on the fifteenth, but it will never be
as dear to me as my D. D. D. Another thing which I know will
be of interest to all of you, Leah receives her B. P. E. at the
same time."

When they read this the Dobsons clapped their hands with
delight, for a neat little home has been completed down the
street, and it is to be occupied by Joe and Leah as soon as they
return from school.

Monticello, Utah

Arouse Ye, My Soul

From thy lethargy, 'rouse ye, my soul:

, Trim thy lamp, for the light burnetii dim.

There's a work now awaiting thy hand,

Before cometh the harvester grim.

Ah, too long hast thou been held in thrall

With the pleasures and cares of the earth.
Never seeking to offer thy all,

For the jewels of Heavenly worth.

Arise now, my soul, that ye may

With the valiant faithful be found,
Who are spreading the gospel's bright ray,

Sending truth through all the world around;

For behold now the time draweth nigh

That our spirits have waited for long,
When earth's bridegroom, will come from on high

Mid the glory of Heaven's great throng.

With the sanctified ones of our God,
Would'st thou join in the anthem of praise?

Be with those who have clung to the rod,
And in righteousness spent all their days.

Then ne'er more let thy zeal become cold :

Press on, on with thy face to the light
Till thou art as the thrice refined gold

Made with purity gloriously bright.
Raymond, Canada Helen Kimball Orgill

■ ■ *

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Le/t to rigfo: ffug/t J. Cannon, Ah Ching, David 0. McKay, Arthur Ching
Tulaele, Apia, Samoa, June, 1921

Ah Ching

By Elder David 0. McKay, of the Council of the Twelve

"For great and low there's but one test,
"Tis that each one shall do his best.
Who works with all the strength he can
Shall never die in debt to man."

Confucius once said, "All nay knowledge is strung on one
thread;" and on that "one connecting thread," we learn from his
disciple, Tsang Tsu, were hung the principles, Self control and
Charity to one's neighbor. These are certainly two fundamental
elements in character building, without which no man can justly
claim true nobility.

I thought I saw the fruits of these two principles exempli-
fied in the life of Ah Ching as I listened to him one day, when
he and his wife, his son Arthur and Telese (Mrs. Arthur Ah
Ching), acted as host and hostesses to a number of missionaries.
That Saturday afternoon and evening, June 4, are numbered
among the most pleasant of the many delightful days and nights
spent in "dear old" Samoa. Every hour seemed rich in frui-
tion of profitable intercourse and valued friendships, or inspira-
tional experiences, not the least interesting of which was Ah
Ching's narration of his early life in these islands. I wish my
pen could reproduce his accent, and his nervous, animated fa-
cial expression as he spoke, in his "pidg'n" English mixed with
Samoan words, of the trials and reverses and service of those

AH CHING 993

struggling years. But that were wishing the impossible: so I
must be content to write in that old prosaic style which, I fear
is dry, stale and unprofitable."

Ah Ching is small of stature, about five feet, five, I should
say, and rather lightly built at that. His muscular movement
like his thoughts, indicate a highly nervous temperament I
fancy his temper in his early youth was of the gunpowder type-
when touched off, it would go with a flash; and, yet, today, I
believe he can endure imposition and ignominy if necessary 'as
patiently as any of his brethren. '

If you were to meet him on the street, or could see him
move unobstrusively into a rear or side seat of church, you
would think him, if you gave him even a passing thought, one
of the most humble of Chinamen — I'm not sure that your opin-
ion would change, either, if you chanced to see him in his mod-
est three-roomed house in the rear of his little store in Apia;
and yet, if you were to offer him a cashier's check of $50,000
for his property interests, he would undoubtedly smile at you,
shake his head, and turn to his busy, unassuming life with a
view of adding a few more pounds sterling to his comfortable
fortune.

This prosperous little business man "no can lead," he "no
can lite;" but he can "speakee China, and speakee Samoa." He
keeps no books, and has never kept an account in his business
transactions; but he has never purchased an article in his life
without paying spot cash for it. He has never "owed a man a
penny." He quickly remarked, "If any man no payee me,
please himself, me no care."

Now, undoubtedly, in this old work-a-day, business world,
which, in many of its aspects seems a long way from that
anticipated time when every man will esteem his neighbor as
himself, and there shall be no rogues to defraud and to steal,
an X-ray examination into Ah Ching's business might reveal
the fact that not a few men have "pleased themselves" not to
"payee" all they owe him. At any rate there was one who de-
liberately planned to defraud him, and whose dastardly treach-
ery was the means of testing Ah Ching in life's crucible. Had
his character not possessed more pure gold than dross, he would
perhaps even now be deprived of life, or be still wearing the
stripes of a condemned felon.

Ah Ching was a young man in his teens when he left Pu
Chow, Fukin province, China, and enlisted as one of the crew
of a small vessel sailing for the South Seas. True to his thrifty
nature, acquired by heredity, and necessity, he saved nearly ev-
ery penny of his fair wage. Thus after ten years constant ser-

with the ship's company, he had accumulated a thousand

vice

994 IMPROVEMENT ERA

pounds sterling or more. A business friend whom he had met
during his not infrequent visits to Apia, induced him to invest
his hard earned savings in a hotel and store, he to furnish the
money, his friend to furnish the brains and business acumen
required, and the two to divide the profits upon a proportionate
basis acceptable to both. Ah Ching invested his money, only
to discover in a year or two that he had been robbed of every
penny of his hard-earned savings. In certain transfers of the
property, it seems his friend had appropriated everything to
himself. Trusting Ah Ching, couldn't "leadee," couldn't "litee,"
so he became an unsuspecting victim to the treachery of one to
whom he had entrusted practically his life; for "you take one's
life, when you take away the means whereby one lives," and up
to that time Ah Ching had had but one object and that was to
make money; though he had always made it honestly.

When he realized that he had been robbed of all the sav-
ings of his young life, when he sensed the villainy of the dis-
honest scoundrel whom he had called friend, all the fire in his
Chinese nature flashed forth and showed him but one more
thing for which to live, and that one thing, revenge. He truly
wished that his enemy "had forty thousand lives — one was too
poor, too weak, to satisfy his revenge."

"He cheatee me all my money: I killee him;" he hissed in
his rage, "I sharpee a knife like a lacee," he narrated, indicating
the length of the knife by touching with his right hand the el-
bow of his left arm, which he stretched full length. His knife
sharpened, he cried in his agonized rage:

"Me killee him!"

"Something inside-e me say, 'No killee him;' I stop; and it
say again 'no killee him.' "

"Then I know God, he helpee me, so I no killee him. I cly,
that is all — just cly." (Cry.)

Who can deny that God did "helpee" him in this great crisis
of his life? Whether that help sprang from an unsullied con-
science, or gave strength in a moment of weakness to a will that
once more assumed the mastery of a passion, or whether his
spirit responded to the promptings of the Infinite — the fact re-
mains that his frenzy was overpowered, his spirit subdued and
he just "died."

"Yes, thou art ever present, Power Supreme;

Not circumscribed by time, nor fix'd to space,

Confined to altars, nor to temples bound,

In wealth, in want, in freedom, or in chains,

In dungeons or on thrones the faithful find thee."

Unfortunately, too, many fail to heed the gentle "something
inside", and follow the lead of blinded passion whether mental

AH CHING 995

or physical— to their inevitable end, unhappiness and un-
escaped misery.

It was not an easy matter for Ah Ching to cry "down" to his
injured and revengeful spirit; but once he became victor, he
felt, though he did not then know, that,

"Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord and I will repay."

It was a real joy to all who heard him relate his experience
to see his face light up as he said :

"Me gladee from that day to this."

Truly, the fruits of that spirit are love, joy and peace.

"Well, how did the man prosper with his stolen money,
Brother Ah Ching?" I asked.

"That house he burnee down," he answered, "man in the
stleet — all bowed down — nobody likee him — die poor." This
intimation that God had avenged his enemy, recalled the lines:

"I know that each sinful action, as sure as the sun brings shade,
Is somewhere, sometime punished ahead of him, though the hour be long
delayed."

With prospects of success ahead of him, Ah Ching had mar-
ried a Chieftain's daughter. Now they were homeless and
penniless, except for the money earned day by day at odd jobs.
To add to his difficulty, he had voluntarily proffered support
to two of his fellow countrymen, one of whom was sickly and un-
able to supply the least of his necessities. I do not now recall
if I learned at all, what claim the other man had.

"Were they your relatives?" I inquired, knowing the strong
ties of family relationship in the Chinese mind.

"No," was his reply, "no lelation — just Chunamen, that's
all — needee help, and I give him — I findee wolk sometimee; my
woman she takee in washing. Sometimee me have no lice for
all (rice), but me givee Chinamen lice alle samee."

Sharing his last kernel of rice with a fellowman in need,
and that, too, without any recompense or desire for reward — is
not that true service? No doubt the gratitude whispered by
the sick and dying man fully repaid Ah Ching for his years ot
gratuitous food and shelter; but there will be further recom-
pense when one who takes note of all such kindnesses will some
day say,

"These deeds shall thy memorial be—
Fear not thou didst them unto me."

It is no wonder that the sound of the gospel struck a re-
sponsive chord in this humble man's heart. Conscientiousness,
self-mastery, service among its principal themes.

His church record like his life is marked not in words but

996 IMPROVEMENT ERA

in deeds. You may know his annual income by his tithes and
offerings which are freely and thankfully given as expressions of
his gratitude for the manifest goodness of God to him.

His rise from poverty to opulence began about the time
that he joined the Church, the turning point being marked in
his mind as undoubtedly it was in reality, by a singular dream
that came to him.

"I dleamed one night," he narrated, "that the Lord, he say
to me, 'Plenty money in the stleet, why you no pick him up?*
Next morning I get up, lookee the stleet — no money. I could
see no money in the stleet. Then I thought; I sellce things in
the stleet, and makee money."

With the little savings he and his wife had horded, he pur-
chased by paying cash in full, One case of salmon, one sack
of sugar, one gross of matches, 5 plugs of Samoan tobacco, one
hundred pounds of Samoan Kava, and 900 pounds of flour.
When this was sold he purchased more. Thus began his little
business, which today includes three separate stores, and a
bakery, all free from encumbrances, and carrying on a thriving
trade.

His faithful wife, who shared his struggles in poverty, lived
to share only a part of his prosperity. A year or so after her
death he married her sister, who evidently is an excellent help-
meet and companion to himr and in whom we thought we could
detect the "same admirable qualities of womanhood as those
elements of manhood which have contributed to the com-
mendable life of her husband. Through her lineage he now
holds the title of chief among her people.

Of his sons and daughters, we learned but little. His son
Arthur, who is now a partner in the business, was educated in
China where his father supported him seven years. He and his
wife Telese are also members of the Church, and seem to hold
the confidence and esteem of the mission authorities and elders
who know him. They are certainly as bounteous in their de-
sires to please and to serve others as their father Ah Ching;
for after eighteen or more feasted that afternoon with all the
delicacies Samoa produces, all the Sauniatu band boys, were
feted to their appetites' content.

As we sat in his flower-bedecked home in Tulaele, with
evidences of thrift and opulence on every hand, as we thought
of the number of men and women whom it is in his power now
to bless; as we heard him express his gratitude for what the
gospel has brought him and for what it means to him, there
passed quickly in my mind, in striking contrast to this scene
of success and sweet contentment, a picture of a possible felon's
cell with all its associated misery and ignominy.

AH CHING 997

Conscientiousness, service, thrift, honesty, and obedience to
other principles of the gospel, have given Ah Ching this com-
fort; and self mastery in a moment when he stood blindly at the
parting of life's ways, kept him from the felon's cell.

With the results of his industry around him, and the fruit
of the Spirit in his soul, it was indeed gratifying to hear him
acknowledge God's guidance and inspiration in this simple
sentence :

"Me knowee God, he helpee me."
Suva, Fiji

One Picture of Thousands

By Will H. Brown, Oakland, California, Superintendent Press Bureau No-
Tobacco League of America

The tobacco trust can never convince slaves of the tobacco
habit that the weed is either desirable or helpful in any way.
With tens of thousands of men throughout the United States
cursing the day they ever took up the habit, and thousands of
others rejoicing because they have been able to break away from
the slavery of the habit, tobacco propagandists are up against
a stiff proposition. Here is just one picture of many that could
be thrown on the screen of publicity. An ex-smoker wrote thus
in the Daily Tribune, Oakland, Calif.:

"I smoked cigarettes mildly the first few years, but finally to ascess.
My case is an illustration of thousands. It is an easy matter to acquire the
habit, but when once formed is rarely abandoned. There are millions of
men right now, this world over, who realize deep down in their hearts
that tobacco is slowly murdering them. I have used tobacco until I actually
pitied my own poor heart. When my eyesight was failing me and my
health was gone, I realized that something must be done. I had taken
medicine for various ailments without the slightest benefit. The last doctor
I consulted, though, did things up brown. After examining me carefully
he said: 'Young man, I wouldn't exchange hearts with you for one day
for $10,000. You have a tobacco heart. I can do nothing for you unless
you cease altogether the use of tobacco.' I looked at the man in blank
despair, for I had tried that very thing so many times and failed that I de-
spaired of trying again. But I did, and I quit the weed. That was eight
years ago, and I have long since lost all desire for tobacco. I am now proud
of my achievement and my excellent health."

FELLING A GIANT TREE

This great tree was felled to aid in building the new Logan, Utah,
scout home. It was 250 years old, according to its rings which were counted
and it is expected that 1,200 feet of red pine lumber will come out of it
for the scout camp.

New Scout Home Amid the Mountains

By N. Alvin Pedersen, Dept. of English, U. A. C.

Logan is building a new home, the most important one she
has built in many a day. Its peculiar significance lies in the
fact that this home is to be the shelter and rendezvous, not of
a family of six or ten but of six hundred boy scouts when on
their "outings" into the wilds, whether it be in the "leafy month
of June" or in snow-covered January when the owl "for all his
feathers is a-cold."

Six hundred of them, a noble band of boys is this, whom
Logan and her environs have mothered. And now a new Scout
home is being erected for them in which to conserve these boys
and implant in them the ideals of Lincoln and Roosevelt. A
unique project it is: our hearts and hopes of future years are all
with it. The citizens here are enthusiastic; the boys them-
selves are eying every hammer stroke of the builders. And
when the last shingle is laid there will be a fathers and sons'
outing in Logan Canyon such as a poet might dream of. In
the course of a month that dream should come true.

The building of this home is a community project. Peo-
ple of Logan and vicinity gave of their money freely, usually the
sums that were asked by the committees, and in addition they
gave labor and material gratis. For instance, a large stack of
hard-wood shingles, costing approximately $250 is now upon
the grounds ready for use. This material was the gift of the
Logan Kiwanis Club, the members of which had already made
their contributions through other channels. Similarly generous
was the action of the Rotary Club which is paying the hire of
three logging outfits that ply daily between the timber four
miles away and the building site. Likewise, a further illustra-
tion of community cooperation might have been seen last Sat-
urday when a merchant, an attorney, and three professors from
the U. A. C. formed one timber gang— all giving volunteer ser-
vice. The Scouts themselves built road, felled trees, and are
now in the process of making small money contributions. United
we stand, is our motto. # .

The camp is fifteen miles up Logan Canyon, oft in the right
hand fork where the strictest privacy can be maintained, a con-
dition essential to Scout discipline. In every direction lies in-
viting hiking territory. Through the canyon to the east, an easy

1000

IMPROVEMENT ERA

day's jaunt, lies Bear Lake, which now attracts tourists by the
thousands from all parts of the country. Mt. Logan, nearly
10,000 feet high, beckons from the south and west to its easiest
approach. Mountains Gog, Magog, and Naomi lift their heads

BUILDING THE LOGAN SCOUT HOME

Top: View of the giant tree where it fell. Bottom: The scout building,
with the first row of logs laid on their rock foundation.

to a similar elevation on the north, with mountain streams
jumping for hundreds of feet down their rocky sides to the blue
mountain water of White Pine lake. The camp is thus a genu-
ine hiker's El Dorado, the center of which is the Scout Camp, in
a dry, open place yet with a scenic background of mountain and

NEW SCOUT HOME 1001

forest, part of the delightful Cache game preserve. Elk and
deer are not far away; wild birds are plenty; and many a tree
shows the imprint of Bruin's long claws, the results of a climb
for food or fun.

The camp building or home, is to be of rustic pattern. The
timber is sawed on three sides only, leaving the round bark
side to face the weather. The logs thus dressed, the beginning
rows of which are now laid, rest upon a rough rock formation
three or four feet high. The structure when completed will thus
be seen to fit its setting, a mountain home amid the mountains.

When the Scouts return to camp from a vigorous hike there
will be in the home a kitchen, in which to cook their rations; a
hospital room in which to bandage a wound; a library from
which to get Treasure Island, or A Little Boy Lost; and, if it
chance to be a cold night, they can all gather after supper in
a thirty-six by forty-two assembly room, made cozy by glowing,
crackling logs in a ten-foot fire place, while the Scout master
reads to them Sohrab and Rustum, The Revenge, or The Ballad
of East and West. In a mild night they might sit on the large
porch and tell to one another great stories of today's heroes,
or climb to the balcony and hear related the story of how
Phaeton drove the sun chariot. Above the Scouts would be the
dark beauty of the night and the quiet mystery of the stars;
around them would encircle the ancient everlasting hills; in
their hearts would dwell gratitude for the largeness of life and
consequent reverence for God and his handiwork.

A Morning Song

With curtains gently drawn
And softly blown apart,
I watch the opening dawn
With grateful, trusting heart.

And in my soul as morning breaks,
A song of loving praise awakes.

The eastern mountains stand

Tinged with the rising sun;

Show how the Master's hand

His skilful work hath done.

And clouds at night were dark and gray,
And golden with approaching day.

Be glad 0 heart of Earth!

Sing praise amid the strife
Which hastens on the birth
Of men,triumphant life.

Black night will pass, and rosy gold
Thy wakening vision shall behold.

L. Lula Greene Richards

Sources of Joy and Factors of Happiness

A Study for the Advanced Senior Classes of the M. I. A.,

1921-1922

By Dr. George H. Brimhall

Lesson I. — Optimism as a Source of Joy and a Factor of

Happiness

"Man is that he may have joy." Book of Mormon, II Nephi 2:25.

Herbert Spencer says, "That is best which contributes the most hap-
piness immediate and remote to the greatest number."

In discussing this subject for a single evening the time will
necessarily be devoted to a consideration of how to develop the
habit of looking for the good and how this habit contributes to
happiness.

/. Optimism and Intelligence. Optimism is not only an
accompaniment of the individual intelligence, but in its highest
form it is the creation of individual intelligence.

In the first place there are creatures that are so instinctively
optimistic that they fly to the light and perish, as well as per-
sons who are so naturally optimistic that they are blind to a
danger signal. They go through the world shedding sunshine
in such super-abundance that their commendation becomes lit-
tle more than honest flattery. They are true to themselves, but
not true to reality. Their omptimism is more than instinctive
and less than deliberative.

There is a habit of goodness so ultra that it verges into the
bad. Habits of optimism born of deliberation are often so dis-
torted by desire, and warped by the will, that consistency can
scarcely find footing. This form of optimism is manifested in
the lines of life varying from reckless speculation in the world
to the denial of the existence of evil in the spiritual.

People plunge into drowning depths, deceived by the glitter
of pebbles, which creates a phantom shallowness of the water;
and in like manner some seek to prove salvation by denying the
existence of sin.

Intelligent optimism does not consist in silencing the wail
of woe, but in skilfully seeing to it that the songs of joy have
a prominent place in the daily program of life.

There is a sort of happy-go-lucky or daffy-down-dilly optim-
ism which produces a kind of semi-civilized happiness; but in
comparison with optimism that is born of judicious discrimina-

SOURCES OF JOY AND FACTORS OF HAPPINESS

1003

tion, it is like the sun-basking lizzard of the desert to the nest-
building bird of the mountains; the one happy in whatever is,
the other full of anxious activity in what is to be.

//. Optimism and Attitude. The habit of looking for the
good and concentrating on the sunshine of life gives us poise in
the direction of our better selves; and by the law of contrast a
shrinking from the other selves. It inclines toward the worth-
while in others, and pulls them towards the best in us, and
thus fast and lasting friendships are formed.

The reiteration of God's goodness in prayer, both secret and
private, intensifies our attitude towards the divine, and we auto-
matically look aloft for more good.

Individual discouragement with one's self, social disparage-
ment of others, and distrust of divinity, with all their power, dis-
pair of pushing us into the pit whenever they find us in the
attitude of optimism.

///. Optimism and Action. In the hunt for good we find
happiness without seeking it, and joy unbidden walks at our
side, and if ever our hunt is ended these companions leave us
and we find ourselves at home without relatives, in society with-
out friends, in the universe without God.

The reward for optimistic action is the possession of a set
of habits that make for happiness immediate and remote.

With the forming of the habit comes the corresponding
increase of capacity to see the good, which capacity in turn
accelerates our speed and increases our power, and this capacity
is a final source of joy, a fundamental factor of happiness.

IV. Illustration of Optimism. The story is told of Presi-
dent Anthony W. Ivins that while on a hunt for white-tailed
deer he could not be shown a herd of hogs that scampered
through the forest in full view. "Optimism sees the whole
doughnut ; pessimism sees the hole in the doughnut."

Summary of Ways in Which the
Habit of Looking for the Good is
a Source of Joy and a Factor of
Happiness. 1. It forms a founda
tion for faith in one's self, one's
fellowman, and in God.

2. It gives us good neighbors.

3. Constantly increases the
friendship of our old friends and
makes us new friends.

4. It gives us an appreciative at-
titude toward labor.

5. It produces patriotism: only
those who can look for the good
in their country can love it.

6. It increases our faith and
stabilizes our hopes.

7. It furnishes the satisfaction of
obeying, from one point of view at
least, the second great command-
ment.

8. It keeps one busy in the joy-
ful occupation of finding the good,
enjoying the good, and passing the
good along.

9. It makes us not only loving,
but lovable.

10. Optin idm calls for religion
and finds therein the deepest
streams of joy and the broadest
streams of happiness.

11. It jars against the pernicious
habit of confessing other people's
sins.

1004 IMPROVEMENT ERA

Literary Lights

"Thou wilt not leave us in the dust;

Thou madest man. he knows not why.

He thinks he was not made to die;
And thou hast made him: thou art just."

In Memoriam — Alfred Tennyson.

"One who never turned his back, but marched breast forward.
Never doubted clouds would break.
Never dreamed though right were worsted, wrong would triumph;
Held, we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better,

Sleep to wake." — Epilogue to Asolando — Robert Browning.

Questions, Problems, and Statements for Discussion

1. "Judge not a country by its drawbacks, but by its advantages."
What two words added to the above sentence would change it from poor
advice to good?

2. Wherein is the self-counting of one's virtues a sour«e of strength,
and at what point does it make for weakness?

3. Why is the optimistic attitude essential to the enjoyment of life?

4. Discuss Roosevelt's muck-raking philosophy which is in substance:
"He who will not come to the cause of necessity to muckrake is a coward."

5. What do you think of the advice: Count your blessings, their op-
posites will count themselves?

6. What is wrong with the theory; "Things are as good as they can
be"?

7. Discuss the proposition: A set of good habits is indispensable to
happiness, and the habit of optimism is one of the best of the set.

8. Discuss the proposition: Without civic optimism, the town is
doomed.

9. Better be poor with the hope of becoming rich, than be rich with
the fear of becoming poor.

10. Wherein does religion furnish the broadest field for optimism?

11. Discuss the optimism behind the following expressions: "I know
that my Redeemer lives." "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell." Discuss
the optimism in the last stanza of the "Star Spangled Banner."

Supplementary Readings

The Book of Job. Helen Keller, Optimism. Cory Hanks, Up from the
Hills. Robert Browning, Saul. "Count your many blessings" would be an
appropriate song for the evening.

Lesson II. — Self Correction

The consciousness of possessing the self corrective power
is a source of infinite joy. Self correction is a safeguard against
optimism degenerating into self coddling, social cant, and spirit-
ual license. It is a source of joy and a factor of happiness,
positively and negatively, by its positive pull and its negative
push. In the former it reaches out to and draws in the good,
in the latter it eliminates the bad or the less good.

SOURCES OF JOY AND FACTORS OF HAPPINESS 1005

The power of self correction is man's heritage alone, no
lower creature has it. Through it man becomes both garden
and gardener.

Man must grow; the pull from without and the potentiality
fro^ within force growth whether we will it or not, but upon
our self correction depends the straightness of the growth.

Self correction is the keystone to the archway of repent-
ance; it is reformation.

The archway of repentance is the only bridge that spans the
gulf between heaven and its opposite.

Man, self separated from his higher self, from society, or
from God, through error, in intent, word, or action, by omis-
sion of duty or commission of sin becomes a wanderer, seeking
but never finding the fountain of happiness. Self-fooled at
times he drinks from some pool of pleasure, which momentarily
slakes his thirst for joy, then racks him with poison-pains.

Self correction secures the progressive perpetuity of the
joy of doing. With it life becomes more than one eternal round ;
is not only circular, but spiral. The consciousness of elevative
advancement is joy without parallel, and self correction deals
out a daily portion of this form of happiness. One cannot "So
act that each tomorrow finds him further than today" without
optimism and self correction. They are the feet with which we
climb; they are the wings with which we fly.

Self correction has four specific fields of operation: the
physical, the intellectual, the moral or social, and the spiritual.

Physical. — The human body has been called by very high
authority the Temple of God. Aside from all health considera-
tions, physical defects, whatever their cause, become a part of
the self, and call for attempt at self correction, and the change
increases happiness, whether the contribution comes in the
form of strength, utility, or beauty. One may temporarily for-
get a physical defect, but it never forgets him.

Many a person has not only arrested, but remedied stooped
shoulderedness by judicious self correction.

Man is intended for straightness, in all the aspects of life.

The eyes, those windows of the soul, reflectors of the physi-
cal universe, should be objects of protection and correction. Few
indeed are the eyes that are not measurably defective. That
the eyes may bring to us the truth and beauty of the outer world,
with a clearness not possible under the handicap of defect,
proper corrections should be made. A self correction that adds
to clearness of vision must of necessity multiply our joys.

What is said of the eye applies to the ear, the heart, and
other organs of the body. There is more than poetry in the
Shakesperian lines:

1006 IMPROVEMENT ERA

"My pulse as thine doth temperately keep time,
And makes as healthful music."

Getting to the bottom of things is counted as a virtue; yet
many people never get the air to the bottom of their lungs,
where five minutes a day of deep breathing would cause a per-
ceptible lung expansion, a correspondingly strong circulation of
blood, resulting in a physical buoyancy, which helps to keep
one's happiness at high tide.

Intellectual. The difference between the trained and the
untrained mind is the difference between the bee and the but-
terfly; the one flies straight, the other flits. Mind-wandering
is a habit of following the line of least resistance, the line of
little labor and much leisure. Self correction in this direction
can reverse the procedure, and the individual intellectually rise
to the rank of student; his perception is quicker, his memory is
clearer, his judgment more accurate, his reasoning stronger,
and his imagination becomes an architect of something more
than a temporary wigwam.

Moral or Social.

"Build thee more stately mansions, 0 my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!"

One needs to survey his social self, his moral self, and see
wherein, through intention or accident, there have come the de-
fects which prevent a full flow of joy as he looks into the moral
mirror.

If the habit of exaggeration be found, prescribe for the self
more exercise in accuracy. If a tendency is discovered towards
grouchiness, practice swallowing grumbles. If symptoms of
the greeds appear, straightway be generous and mark the rise
in the stream of joy. Self correction in the line of greed will
make one know and feel the truth uttered by the Master, "It
is more blessed to give than to receive." Having done the work,
we know of the doctrine.

Spiritual. Any form of indulgence that leads away from
God calls for heroic treatment. If luxury leads away, turn back.
Better be a rich man with meager possessions than a poor man
with much riches. Should we find ourselves autoing away from
the assembly of the Saints upon the Sabbath day, lock up the
car and give it a Sabbath day rest, see to it that the gasoline
tank is emptied on Saturday night, or sell the car.

If prosperity interferes with our praying, create adversity in
the form of self demand, for a renewal of our correspondence
with the Lord.

SOURCES OF JOY AND FACTORS OF HAPPINESS 1007

Literary Lights

"Build thee more stately mansions. 0 my soul,

As the swift seasons roll!

Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,

Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!"

— O. W. Holmes.

"I held it truth, with him who sings
To one clear harp in diverse tones,
That men may rise on stepping-stones,

Of their dead selves to higher things."— Alfred Tennyson.

Questions and Problems

1. Show that self correction is one of the lines of demarkation be-
tween man and the animal.

2. Wherein does self correction supplement optimism?

3. What aspect of repentance is covered by self correction?

4. Wherein is liberty dependent upon self correction?

5. Discuss the distinction between self correction and self control.

6. Name the four special fields of self correction.

7. Wherein is it unjust to our spirit to carry a remediable bodily de-
fect?

8. What is your remedy for the greeds?

9. Discuss the proposition: "The peddler of slander is as bad as the
one who manufactures it."

10. How may grouchiness be cured?

11. Discuss the propriety of compelling one's self to pray.

12. Write a list of self corrections of which you are conscious with-
out attaching your name to it.

Collateral Readings

II Corinthians 7:9-10. Hebrew 6:1-6. Gospel Doctrine, pp. 117-118.
Vitality of Mormonism, p. 275, James E. Talmage.

Lesson III. — Cleanliness

The consciousness of being strong, the consciousness of be-
ing straight, the consciousness of being safe, and the conscious-
ness of being clean; these four are the foundation stones of
the palace of happiness.

There is a sort of joy, a type of happiness, that is made up
mostly of the consciousness of strength; strength to domineer,
strength to drive, strength to destroy. And this sense of strength
is often accompanied by a shallow sense of safety, rising from
the sophistry of the doctrine that to the victor belongs the
spoils, regardless of whether the path taken to success be
straight or crooked. In such cases the safety anchor is error,
above which stands the immutable truth, that success in an un-

1008 IMPROVEMENT ERA

righteous cause, or by unfair means, is always failure, and that
failure, in a righteous cause, is labeled by the high hand of
destiny, success.

The consciousness of straightness in purpose and pursuit is
more than a journey towards joy, it is joy; it is high happiness.

To feel safe is to be happy. In the absence of the sense of
security, fear fights its way to the front and joy flees. The sense
of security in one of its highest forms is a feeling of being at
rest with right.

There is the strength of being clean; there is the straight-
ness of being clean; there is the safety of being clean; but the
sense of cleanliness itself includes them all and more, it en-
compasses the consciousness of a worthiness to be strong and
straight and safe.

Cleanliness contributes not only to our stream of joy in the
inner world, but it makes way for happiness in the outer world.
Contact with filth invites disease and makes way for death. The
more "clean up" the less "doctor up" is a slogan of the century.

There is much philosophy in the advertisement: "preserve
with paint." The law which says, "spray, or sell no fruit" is a
mandatory call of cleanliness in the interest of health and hap-
piness. A sweet breath and clean-kept private yards are in-
dividual possessions unconsciously making their contributions to
community cleanliness. They are factors of happiness to in-
dividual and to the group. The cleanliness of a city is the sum
total of the purity of its public and private places.

The people, the church, every individual organization seek-
ing salvation with any certainty of success must be a city set up-
on a hill. The place to which we go to worship should be so
kept that men passing by and entering shall find a harmony
between the spiritual education and the environment. The L.
D. S. mission house in Portland, which took the prize, preached
the doctrines of its builders to every passerby, and enlisted the
press in the propaganda for the Church.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever, and cleanliness is a
characteristic of beauty, in both the mental and material world.

Literary Lights

"Cleanliness of body was ever deemed to proceed from a due rever-
ence to God." Bacon, Advancement of Learning, Book II.

"Slovenliness is no part of religion; neither this (I Pet. 3:3, 4) nor
any text of Scriptures condemns neatness of apparel. Certainlv this is a
duty, not a sin; 'cleanliness is, indeed, next to Godliness.'" John Wesley
Sermons on Dress.

Wesley puts the last sentence into quotation marks, giving no indica-
tion as to its' source. It may have been a popular proverb in his day, as

SOURCES OF JOY AND FACTORS OF HAPPINESS 1009

in ours. Dr. A. S. Bettelheim, a Jewish rabbi, traces the saying to the Tal-
mud, where Phinehasben Jarr says:

"The doctrines of religion are resolved into carefulness; carefulness
into vigorousness ; vigorousness into guiltlessness; guiltlessness into abstem-
iousness; abstemiousness into cleanliness; cleanliness into godliness— literally
next to godliness."

Problems and Questions

1. What can you do to improve the cleanliness in your community?
a. Individually? b. As a class?

2. To what state of mind does one confess when he tells a smutty
story?

3. How may there be unclean dressing in clean dresses?

4. What is the leading thought in The Strength of Being Clean, by
David Starr Jordan?

5. Name the four states of consciousness that are special sources of
joy and factors of happiness.

6. What element exists in the sense of cleanliness that may be absent
in the sense of safety?

7. Discuss cleanliness in the light of the declaration that, "Salvation
consists in getting beyond the power of one's enemies."

8. Wherein is baptism related to optimism, self correction, and clean-
liness?

9. When has the sense of strength weakness behind it?

10. Show that cleanliness is not only next to godliness, but a part of it.

Collateral Reading

The Strength of Being Clean, David Starr Jordan. Gospel Doctrine,
Joseph F. Smith, pp. 687-689.

Study Courses for 1921-22

' Advanced Senior Department

The general title of the Joint Advanced Senior Class study
is Sources of Joy and Factors of Happiness, the thesis being,
"Man is that he may have joy," and the topics as they will ap-
pear in the Era and Journal, are as follows:

1. Optimism 13. Veracity

2. Self -correction 14. Sincerity

3. Cleanliness 15- Hospitality

4. Education 16- Culture

5. Work 17- Thrift

6. Recreation 18. Obedience
7# Art. 19- Opposition

8. Literature. 20. Health

9. Music. 21. Leadership

10. Science 22. Charity

11. Large Family 23. Freedom

12. Prayer 24. Suspended Judgment

1010

IMPROVEMENT ERA

Senior Department

The general title of the Y. M. M. I. A. Senior manual is,
Practical Religion. The aim is to interest the young men of
Zion in the theories of our religion, and to impress them with
a strong and abiding determination to put them into actual prac-
tice. The title of the lessons are :

1. The Religion of the Latter-day
Saints Reasonable and Natural.

2. Growth.

3. How Knowledge Comes.

4. Meaning of Prayer.

5. Prayer in
World.

6. The "why"
tion.

7. The "why"

8. Loyalty to

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.
of Church Ordinances 18.
the Priesthood.

the History of the
of Church Organiza-

Counsel.

Chastity.

Effect of Chastity.

Fasting.

The History of Tithing.

The Value of Tithing.

Love as Shown in Offerings.

Love for Humanity.

Charity.

Man Is that He May Have Joy.

Junior Department

The manual for the Junior Class carries the general title,
Pioneer Stories. Unlike the trappers and the early explorers,
who came for gold and adventure, the Latter-day Saints came
to the unsettled west to make homes, with no thought of turning
back. The object of the manual is to impress the youth with
the faith and zeal of the Pioneers who thus established them-
selves in the great American desert. The stories bear upon the
hardships endured in conquering the soil and subduing the In-
dians. The aim is to create in the new generation the faith of
the fathers, and a desire to continue the great work which they
began. To this end, many thrilling stories and faith promoting
testimonies are recounted. The following are the lesson head-
ings:

1. The Catholic Fathers— 11.
Early Discoveries. 12.

2. The Fur Traders. 13.

3. "This is the Place." 14.

4. President Young's Predictions. 15.

5. An Indian Scare.

6. An Indian Scare. (Continued.) 16.

7. Jacob Hamblin and the Indians. 17.

8. Courage. 18.

9. Indian's Attack on Lee's Ranch. 19.
10. Indian's Attack on Lee's Ranch.

(Continued)

The Fruits of Disobedience.
Providential. A Dog Story.
Was it Retribution?
Was it Retribution? (Continued.)
A Navajo's Depredations in South-
ern Utah.

A Victory for Peace.
A Victory for Peace. (Continued.)
The Wily Chief.

A Thrilling Experience of Pio-
neer Life.

Section of Burial Procession above French Town, Shanghai

Shanghai

By H. F. Gordon

Shanghai the melting pot of the Orient. A city wherein i9
represented every nationality but the Eskimo and Indian. The
place where Christian minister, and local harlot rub shoulders
in the public gardens, where poor and rich alike gather after
a stifling hot day, to relax in the cool of the evening. Shanghai
where, by journeying from the old Mandarin City to the in-
ternational settlement on the "Bund," one may see medieval
Orientalism and modern Occidentalism, all in a few short
blocks.

The place where Pierce-Arrow, Rolls-Royce, and rickshaw
alike obey traffic signals and fight for the right of way. The
city is with its beautiful residence district on "Bubbling Well
Road," the home of the wealthy foreigner and native, modern
and sanitary, and the unspeakable winding alleys of the poor
residents, unsanitary and unkept. Shanghai where the flags of
all nations may be seen floating from ships on the river, mod-
ern steel mediums of commerce and trade, among which wind
their way, the old Chinese Junk and Sanpan, truly a great con-
trast.

A city with its notorious Cabaret district "the Trenches,"
where the forces of evil strive to ruin the souls of men; while a
few blocks distant, agents of good fight a seemingly losing bat-
tle. Its tennis, golf and baseball, its gambling, opium and drink-

1012 IMPROVEMENT ERA

ing dens, a strange contrast. Yet seeming to dwell and flour-
ish, in spite of the antagonistic influence of each to the other;
truly a city cosmopolitan, where all nations, all walks of life
and the great inventions of modern civiliation mix unintelligibly,
until one is confused by the ever changing, from present to dim
past that greets the eye.

No greater place on earth can be found for the study of
mankind, in their individual and collective efforts for good and
evil, for progress or decay than in this the melting pot of the
Orient, a sink of iniquity, headquarters of the Y. M. C. A. and
the Christian Missions.

Shall We Know Our Own Once More?

When the Angels' welcome's given,

When we enter holier sphere,
And in that sweet joy of heaven

We forget our troubles here,
Shall we meet, there, father, mother,

Friends and loved ones gone before?
Snail we recognize each other?

Shall we know our own once more?

When our friends, who traveling faster,

Long since crossed the great divide,
Who with us did serve the Master,

Meet us on the other side,
Shall we read in their sweet faces

Love and friendship as of yore?
Shall we feel their fond embraces?

Shall we know our own once more?

Oh my soul, let naught confuse thee!

How much sorrow life may bring,
Let this glorious hope enthuse thee,

Cause thee to rejoice and sing:
All in which our faith's delighting

Will come true on yonder shore:
There will be a reuniting,

We shall know our own once more !

Come, ye sad and heavy-hearted,

Yonder beckons brighter day!
There you'll find your dear departed,

Sainted loved ones, yours for aye.
Death and parting here bereave us —

There reunion will restore
All we've lost, no more to leave us:

Wle shall know our own once more!

Translated from the Dutch, by Frank I. Kooyman.

Does Education Pay?

By Dr, E. B. Brossard, in charge Agricultural Economics and Farm
Management, Utah Agricultural College

Educational Values

Undoubtedly the greatest values of an education are found
in the intellectual, social, cultural, and spiritual development
which mean so much towards health of body and mind, inter-
est in and understanding of the affairs of nature and things
about us, and the refined sensitiveness and appreciation of the
relationship of man to his fellows and to his God.

The development of the intellect in itself is a worthy
achievement. To gather, classify, segregate, analyze, and retain
information is a valuable accomplishment. To be able to reason
logically is a great asset. To do refined thinking requires a
well-trained mind. The moral value of an education in self-
control cannot be over-estimated. Constructive moral educa-
tion was never needed more than at the present time. The stim-
ulation of imagination and the proper control over it are goals
to be striven for. The vivid picturing of worthy ideals and
making them universally attractive would revolutionize the
modern world.

Man needs spiritual development to clarify his vision and
give purpose and zest to his thinking and his work. Without
spiritual vision the people perish.

Practical Education

Aside from these somewhat classical phases of education,
and yet so closely connected with them that a sharp distinction
cannot be drawn between them, is the practical side of educa-
tion.

By practical, as used here, is meant that which is usable in
our daily lives in helping .us to understand what we read in
books, magazines, and newspapers, that enables us to discuss
current events intelligently and that guides us in plans for busi-
ness or travel, but more especially that which helps us become
more efficient eccfiomic units in society or adds to our economic
income.

Labor Income

Since 1914, the writer has been studying the farming busi-
ness in Utah and elsewhere, and has gathered some very inter-

1014 IMPROVEMENT ERA

esting data on the profits that are made from farming enter-
prises. The Labor Income of many Utah farmers has been cal-
culated to show what profits they make from their farms.
Labor Income is a technical term and needs to be carefully de-
fined in order to avoid misunderstanding and erroneous com-
parisons with incomes in other occupations. It is found by
subtracting from the gross farm receipts the sum of the gross
farm expenses and interest on the total capital invested in the
farm business. The receipts include all cash receipts for farm
products sold or held for sale and labor done for others by the
farmer or his hired help or the farm horses or machinery; and
any increase in inventory of livestock, machinery, feed and
supplies, cash, or land and buildings due to improvements made
by the farmer himself. Eggs traded for groceries are counted as
cash sales. But the farm-grown products that are used in the
farm family are not counted as receipts.

The farm expenses include all cash paid out during the year
for the running of the farm business as separated from the per-
sonal expenses of living and education of the farm family. They
include any decrease in inventory and the estimated value of
the farm labor supplied by the members of the farm family
other than the operator or father.

It may be seen that the Labor Income is not the total in-
come of a farmer. In addition to his Labor Income the farmer
has all the farm products used in the home, the interest on his
capital invested, and increase in land value not due to his own
efforts.

Schooling Adds to Income

Investigations made by the writer and others, in 1914 and
1915, among farmers of several counties in Utah, show the value
of formal education to them in their business. Tabe 1 shows
these results. (See also Fig. 1.)

Table 1. Education and Labor Income* of Farmers, Utah,
1914 and 1915:

Education

Years

No. of Records

Labor Income

Grade School

1914

260

$472

Or Less

1915

194

411

Average

2 Years

454

446

More Than

1914

103

1,040

Grade School

1915

89

1,902

Average

2 Years

192

1,439

*Five per cent was the interest rate used in calculating these labor
incomes.

DOES EDUCATION PAY?

1015

zoo 4oo 600 ecc

Two. or fcECoeps

!j

1

"I

LflBOE INCOME
no. or BBCOCP3
LABOR INCOME
NO. OF EKOMJ
LABOR INCOME

{NO. OF EECOED5
LABOR. INCOME
("NO. or ttCOEDS
IlABOE INCOME

|"ko. or «Ecoeoo

LlABOC INC

-T-

Relation of Schooling to Labor Income of Utah Fanners, 1914 and 1915

»280O T

< z

a*

Z e
H S

H H

< 10

U I-

Z<0

u

hX

52

I8

Education and Labor Income of Farmers, Utah, 1914 and 1915

1016 IMPROVEMENT ERA

Of the 454 farmers who are reported to have had a Grade
school education or less, 19 had no formal education, 314 had
attended the District school, and 121 had completed the Dis-
trict School. Of the 192 farmers who are reported to have had
more than a Grade school education 130 had attended High
school and 62 had more than High school training. The average
Labor Income of the 19 who had no formal education was $445,
the average of the 314 who had attended the District school
was $395, the average of the 121 who had completed the District
school was $579, the average of the 130 who had attended High
shcool was $805, and the average of the 62 who had more than
High school training was $2,770. These figures are significant,
but because there are so few records in some of these groups
larger groups were made and therefore but two classes are pos-
sible— those with Grade school training or less and those with
more than Grade school training. The average of the larger
groups reflects more truly the actual conditions.

The 1914 average Labor Income of the farmers who had
but a Grade or Common school education or less was $472 and
for those farmers who had attended high school or more it was
$1,040. In 1915 the difference in Labor Income was even
greater, being $411 for those who had a Grade school educa-
tion or less and $1,902 for those having had more schooling
than this. The average for the two years shows the Labor In-
come of those with only Grade schooling or less to be $446
and for those with more schooling than this to be $1,439, or
about three and one-fourth times as much as those with less
schooling.

The difference in the two-year average annual Labor In-
come is $993. That is to say that those farmers who have more
than a Common school education make annually a Labor In-
come which is $993 greater than the farmers who have not had
this much schooling. It is true that there are individual cases
among those who have the lesser education who make very large
Labor Incomes. It is also true that some farmers who have a
High school and some farmers who have a College education
make little or nothing as a Labor Income. But when they are
considered as groups and the averages of the groups are com-
pared, the better educated farmers make the most money.

The 1920, U. S. census shows the average mortgage-rate of
interest paid by farmers in Utah to be 7.1 per cent. Capitalizing
this increased annual Labor Income of $993 at 7.1 per cent shows
it to be equal in earning power to a capital of $13,986.

The average farm in Utah, according to the Fourteenth U.
S. Decennial Census, was valued at $12,130, and this includes all
the 197 acres of land with all the farm buildings and improve-

DOES EDUCATION PAY? 1017

inents, all the farm implements and tools, and all the farm live-
stock. These figures show that in the long run education above
the common schools is of greater value to a prospective Utah
farmer than a present or* gift of the average farm in the state of
Utah.

Putting the problem in another way, one may see that
formal education is one way of solving the problem of farm
ownership and tenancy, for with the $993 greater income the
better educated farmers would be able to buy the average Utah
farm valued at $12,130, and pay for it in twelve to thirteen
years (12.2 years).

Formal education tends to increase efficiency of production
and to give to us all the enjoyment of more economic goods
which satisfy more of our economic wants for the same or a
less proportionate amount of effort, and therefore amply
justifies its cost to the state and the nation and should be taken
advantage of by every one who desires to be well prepared for
life, for education does pay.

Logan, Utah

To Babyland

I took a trip to Babytown Some were aub«m and some were

How wonderful it seemed! brown

How did I go? Listen, I'll tell, And some as black as night.

I went to sleep and dreamed.

Hundreds of eyes of deepest blue,
I thought I boarded a gallant bark And hundreds of softest brown,

With sails as white as milk; And black and gray and hazel, too,

With masts of gold, and silver spars Were winking, in Babytown.
And shrouds of corded silk.

Babies were there from every clime,
Fashioned of cedar was the hull, White, yellow, black, and brown;

The seats of padded down, From Arctic shore and tropic isles,

Softly and swiftly away sailed we They had come to Babytown.

To the harbor of Babytown.

There were beautiful queens in
What did I see in Babytown? Babytown,

Why smooth little hands an' heads Queens gentle as a dove,

of curls, Who soothed the baby ills and fears

Hundreds of laughing, romping boys, With the magic wand of love.
Hundreds of shy, sweet girls.

But, as I gazed, in pleased surprise,
Heads of hair like golden floss, On this scene s« fair and sweet,

Others like flax, 60 white, The vision vanished and I found

That I had been — asleep.
San Diego, California Dorothy C. Retsloff

A Warning Word

By Elmer W. Pratt

This know, also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For
men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blas-
phemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful., unholy, without natural
affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of
those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more
than lovers of Cod.

Thus did Paul, the apostle, predict the conditions of the
present day. To my young friends who have been reared among
a righteous people, amid peaceful surroundings, who do not
know the wickedness of the world, nor realize the workings of
Satan in our own midst, I would speak a word of warning:

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee
in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the
sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring
thee into judgment.

The burden of my message is to call to your minds a com-
mandment of God: "Honor thy father and thy mother, that
thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord, thy God,
giveth thee."

It is quite evident that a soldier learns a great deal about
war by merely being in a battle. On the same principle, we
can all learn worth-while things about life just by living. Ex-
perience gained in the battle of life gives our parents the right
to speak with authority.

We are told that to know the only true God, and his Son
Jesus Christ, is life eternal. All Latter-day Saints believe in a
personal God, and we have some idea of his character and at-
tributes. But we cannot know him except as we become like
him. And we cannot become like him unless we obey the laws
and commandments which, through his mercy, he has given to
us. Let me ask, can we keep the statutes of our Father in
heaven if we abide not by the counsel of our earthly parents?
Can we live in accordance with a high law without having
fulfilled the lower one?

Kind friends, the world is in a sad condition. The words
of Paul are indeed fulfilled. Satan is working even among the
chosen people of God, and there are many who will be led away
from the fountain of life unless more attention is given the tes-

A WARNING WORD 1019

timony of their fathers in regard to the divinity of the gospel.
Our sturdy parents, who have come from all parts of the earth,
and by their labors have caused a barren desert to produce in
rich abundance, did not accept the gospel and leave their na-
tive lands without carefully examining every principle and
doctrine taught by the missionaries, and gaining a testimony
that "good tidings of great joy" were again being carried by
men of God to all people. Shall we, who are enjoying the fruits
of their toil, spend our time in seeking pleasure for pleasure's
sake, and disregard the advice of our Lord and Savior: "Seek
ye first the Kingdom of God"? If we would obey the counsel
of our fathers and mothers, we would seek after God, and no
doubt some of us would receive wonderful manifestations of
his divine mind and will.

There are many reasons why we should honor our par-
ents, but the most important is that our days may be long
upon the land which the Lord has given us for an inheritance.
It may be said that this promise was made only to ancient
Israel. But if we examine carefully Genesis 17:8 we will
find that all the land of Canaan was given to Abraham and his
seed after him for an everlasting possession. Now we come to
the question: How is it that we are being gathered together on
this land of America, rather than in the land of Canaan? In
Genesis 49:22-26 and Deuteronomy 33:13-16 we find our answer:
"Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well
whose branches run over the wall," whose blessings are greater
than the blessings of his brethren reaching "unto the utmost
bound of the everlasting hills." This is the blessing given by
Jacob to his son who was sold into Egypt. Moses also invokes
the blessing of the Lord on the land of Joseph "for the chief
things of the ancient mountains and the precious things of the
everlasting hills" and "upon the head of him that was separated
from his brethren." We are, practically all, of the seed of
Joseph. We have been gathered unto "his land." If we honor
our parents and seek to gain the testimony they have, our days
will be prolonged in this life, and after death we will rise
again in the resurrection of the just and receive our inheritance
on this land, as an everlasting possession, and we will dwell
forever with our fathers and fore-fathers and with Joseph who,
with all his seed, is separated from his brethren.

Every thought, every word and every action of our lives
leaves a definite impression on our minds. Every person with
whom we come in contact has some influence, small or great,
upon the future of our lives. Our parents, who have covenanted
with the Lord by sacrifice, will ever strive to exert a righteous
influence over us. Let us recognize their authority and abide

1020 IMPROVEMENT ERA

by their teachings; let us hear their testimony and seek to gain
one for ourselves; let us render honor, praise, and obedience,
that we may have our days prolonged, and after mortal time
has ceased that we may abide with them forever.

May God speed this little message. May it find its way
into the heart of someone and be useful.

Denver, Colo.

Maud Baggarley

By Grace Ingles Frost

It is going three years now since Maud Baggarley, success-
ful nurse, teacher, author, wife and mother, better known to
Era readers as Maud Ellen Baggarley, passed away, November
29, 1918, yet I trust the Editor will not refuse to print these few
words in behalf of one who has so often freely contributed to
the pages of the Era and other home magazines. She was born
in Missouri, September 20, 1879. She was, as it were, a southern
rose destined to bloom on northern soil; her father, Charles
Baggarley, was born and bred in Kentucky, while from her
mother, she inherited some of the best blood of old Virginia.

During Maud Baggarley's early childhood, her parents
journeyed west, locating first in California and later residing
alternately in the states of Oregon and Washington. In the state
of Oregon, she received her early scholastic training and in the
same state, at the age of nineteen years, she entered a Portland
hospital to prepare herself for the profession of her choice. It
was there that I first met her, not by chance, but by the divine
grace and will of the heavenly Father. In less than two years
from the time of our meeting, Maud Baggarley became a mem-
ber of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From
the day of her conversion to her last hour on earth, she proved
herself a faithful disciple of the truth.

By nature, Maud Baggarley was endowed with a wonderful
intellect. Her education was broad and her experience wide
and varied. As a writer she is best known in the west, though
she has also some recognition elsewhere, having had her work
published in the Cosmopolitan Magazine, and in other eastern
periodicals. Her verse is yet appearing in local magazines.
Added to her natural talents and her attainments, she possessed
a charm of personality which caused many of her friends to call
her "the Sunny Southerner."

MAUD BAGGARLEY 1021

One of her chief characteristics was her unimpeachable in-
tegrity.

The final summons came to Sister Baggarley at her father's
home in Washington while attending the funeral of her mother
and sister. Her last words were, "Bury me with my people."
Like Ruth of old, the God of Israel had become her God, and
the people of Israel her people.

BEREFT

The house wherein you dwelt is desolate,

Its echoes speak of days that come no more,
The pitter patter of uncertain feet
Of each wee one who from your arms to mine,

Did tottering wend his way across the floor;
Then I beheld the pride of Motherhood

Glow in your eyes and glorify your face,
As each in turn the journey safely made,

And we 'tween us to him, gave lengthened space.

O Heart, dear Heart, no more my soul can bear!

I leave the empty rooms, the portal close,
Perchance, the garden may a solace yield,
But blooms no heart's ease in its borders broad:

'Twas here for me you erstwhile plucked the rose

Of richest hue and of most fragrance rare;
'Twas here your choicest fruit was to me brought,

That from your smile more sweet did grow and fair.

And now, I seek the spot where once for you,

Fraught with the brightness of a noon-day sun,
With forms responsive in their lithesome grace,
Unto the breath of each caressing breeze,

The blossoms you so cherished everyone,
Those deep-lipped golden poppies radiant grew,

But here naught greets mine eye save barren sod —
Do their immortal sisters bloom for you

Where you walk in the Sunshine Land of God?

At length with reverent hand I latch the gate,

No more will I this habitation view,
This lone, lone place where you so lately dwelt;
It matters not whoe'er shall dwell therein,

What matters it when they can ne'er be you?
No more I'll wander down the garden paths,

Where arm in arm we strolled in times of yore,
And converse held of themes to us most glad,

It is too sad when you are here no more.

Outing of Boy Scout Troops of
Mt. Pleasant

By S. M. Nielsen, Deputy Scoitt Commissioner, North Sanpete Stake

The dream of a year was realized by the recent accomplish-
ment of the Boy Scouts of troops one and two of the Mt. Pleas-
ant, North and South wards respectively, on July 23d, when the

Members of Troop 1 Exploring Bryce Canyon

caravan of boy scouts accompanied by scout officials, fathers,
Church officials, and civic officers set out for a trip to points
of interest in southern Utah. Ever since the five-day encamp-
ment in the mountains east of Mt. Pleasant, in the summer of
1920, which was a successful outing, the boys have been assured
by Stake Scout Commissioner S. M. Nielsen, of a trip to Bryce
Canyon, in 1921. It required work and steadfast purpose to
make good the promise, but, with the cooperation of influential
citizens and much activity on the part of the scoutmasters and
assistants, the trip was very successful. We have 2,300 people in
the two wards, and 110 registered scouts, with several boys

BOY SCOUTS OF MT. PLEASANT

1023

eighteen years of age and three twenty-one. The plana were
carried out perfectly and without unfavorable incident to mar
the outing. The caravan was made up of thirty passenger cars
and three auto trucks. One truck was donated by the Peoples'
Sugar company and two by Sanpete county; the passenger cars
were donated by citizens of the community, eighteen being
furnished by the North ward and twelve by the South ward.
There were sixty-four registered scouts from the North ward
or troop one, and forty-six in troop two; with the seven scout
officials, drivers, and a few guests they totalled 165 persons. One
of the wards had ten per cent of its population along, and has
eight per cent of the population enrolled in scout work.

Bryce Canyon: Notice the natural bridge to the right

In the party were the following scout officers: Stake Com-
missioner, S. M. Nielsen, who is also Scoutmaster of Troop 1;
Assistant S. M-, F. O. Jones, in charge of Sec. A, Troop 1, and
Assistant S. M., A. R. Riley in charge of Sec. B, Troop 1, with
Assistant S. M., H. W. Oliverson in charge of special activities.
Scoutmaster Calvin Christensen in charge of Troop 2 with As-
sistants W. M. Orrock and C. W. Sorensen. There were in the
party also two members of the stake presidency of the North
Sanpete stake, the bishops of the two Mt. Pleasant wards, a
counselor of each ward bishopric, the mayor of the city, a

1024 IMPROVEMENT ERA

county commissioner, and several fathers. The trip occupied
six days, July 23 to 28 inclusive. Fish Lake was reached the
first day where the party remained over Sunday. On Monday
the trip was resumed, and camp was pitched at Bryce Canyon
that night. The fourth night was spent at Panguitch and the
last night out was spent at Richfield.

The daily program, from reveille at 6:00 a. m. to taps at
10 p. m., was filled with interesting events- Splendid camp
discipline was maintained, camp was kept clean and inviting,
a lesson in sanitation, the food was cooked and served with dis-
patch and an abundance of good food provided. The campfire
program was a fitting close to the day's activities. Of special
interest was the Pioneer program rendered Sunday morning at
Fish Lake. The expense of the trip was borne by the citizens of
the community, who gave money, or furnished cars. A sub-
sistence charge of $8 for each scout took care of furnishing food
for the party; the boys were required to earn this money them-
selves. Mr. Riley, of Troop 1, and Mr. Orrock of Troop 2, expert
mechanics from local garages, rendered free service, keeping cars
in repair, which did so much to make the trip successful, all
cars reaching camp in good time every night.

Upon return home, July 28, a well-attended rally was held
on the North ward church lawn. It was a happy band of scouts
who returned to their homes, all busy telling of the wonders of
Bryce Canyon, and narrating the pleasant experiences of the
greatest outing of the lives of most of them.
Mt. Pleasant, Utah

To My Father

Dear Father, — As it soon shall be

Thy birthday anniversary,

I send thee love, I wish to pay,

On this beloved and holy day,

Due homage unto thee. Thy years,

Though full of joy, were marred with tears,

Ere less than half thy race was run,

By having had a wayward son.

"Was't worth the price? Art thou repaid,
Now that thy health begins to fade,
And as thy locks commence to fold
The "silver threads among the gold?"
Thou art my sire. I owe to thee,
And one who's in Eternity,
The "all I am," but can I feel,
As at thy feet I humbly kneel,
That Ufe to thee has been a joy
Because God gave to thee a boy?
Duchesne, Utah James H. Moore

Pilgrimage to the Temple

By Archer Willey, of the 177th Quorum of Seventy

There are three reasons why this quorum should continue
its journey each year to the temple, as it has determined upon :

1. The first, but by no means the greatest, is that it makes
an outing pleasurable and enjoyable and gives the friend in
Idaho a chance to clasp hands with the friend and relatives in
Utah, for the gospel permits no geographical boundaries.

2. This journey, aside from its physical enjoyment, tends
spiritually to unite a quorum more than any other factor. It
is the one door each should go through to the room of humility.
Temple work is not only a savior to a quorum collectively; but
is a savior to a man and his family. No man and woman will
get very far away from the pales of the Church who will go to
the Lord's House and renew their covenants, nor will they get
very far astray.

3. The third and greatest reason is found in section 128
of the Doctrine and Covenants, beginning with the 15th verse,
to and including the 18th, which you are asked to read. It is
baptism for the dead, the welding link between the fathers and
the children, without which the earth would be smitten with a
curse.

It seems peculiar that we should pay much attention to,
and lay much stress upon, the baptism of our children at the
age of eight and the baptism of our converts, while we go along
with sleepy placability about our dead. Baptism is symboli-
cal of the coming forth from the grave. But why use this sym-
bol on the living alone, and let the dead wait? Don't imagine
that it will be an easy life over there. Tasks greater than
mortal ever dreamed of await us there, calling for more skill,
more humility, more faith, more love, more intelligence. These
are waiting for you and me and our dead.

Imagine some worker asking the Recorder of God, (and we
certainly have one, for it is written in Matthew 16:19, in the
word of Christ to Peter, "And I will give unto thee the keys
of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose
on earth shall be loosed in heaven")— asking God's Recorder if
his kinsfolk on earth have unlocked his apartment to let him in.
"No," says the Recorder, and the waiting soul goes back into

1026 IMPROVEMENT ERA

the shadow for years, comes up again and again, and nothing
is done. Can you picture the myriads of souls who are so
knocking to our deaf ears?

This our journey is to he only an annual event. Ah! it's a
pity it cannot be a monthly journey, for ten thousand times ten
thousand are in the waiting line for you to send them their pass-
ports. This — one of the most glorious of all subjects belonging
to the everlasting gospel — has been more neglected than any
other. Wiry neglect our dead? Wake up, ye Saints of Idaho.
"Knock and it shall be opened, ask and ye shall receive."

Rouse ye, quorums of Fremont stake, 'tis time to let in the
weary who have gone on before. Can ye not hear the glad
hosannas of thousands of your kin who cry, "Glory to God in
the highest," as ye set them free!

Wake up, 177th Quorum! Every journey to the Lord's
House means a congregation of souls. Every congregation means
a link in the chain reaching from Jehovah's celestial courts
to earth, to draw us to heaven, where in time our dim eyes,
clear of mists, shall see God.

I feel it the duty that some one of our Quorum should have
a temple mission during the winter months. Why cannot one
or two of our presidency and one or two of our members go
and labor from January to April, of each year, for the good of
the Quorum membership?

Let us take the dry wax of doubt from our ears; that we
may hear the calls from afar, even the voices of our dead; and,
answering, each of us shall journey to the temple, to the Lord's^
House, and purchase liberty and freedom for some waiting soul.
If we do this, some day, as we pass into the beyond, thankful
souls will clasp our hands and call our names blessed.
Sugar City, Idaho

Order a New Y. M. M. I. A. Hand Book

A new Y. M. M. I. A. Hand Book is being printed ready
for the Fall opening of the associations. Mr. Charles F. Smith,
Teachers' College, Columbia University, New York, writes un-
der date of July 19, 1921:

"My dear Mr. Kirkham: — -The other day I picked up a
copy of the Y. M. M. I. A. Hand Book and did not stop reading
until I had completed it. You should congratulate yourself for
being connected with such a wonderful institution."

Why a Church School?

By Marion L. Harris, A. B., Instructor in Science Latter-day Saints University

Professor R. A. Millikan, of the University of Chicago, who
was head of the National Research Council, during the war,
in an address delivered in connection with the presentation of
a gram of radium to Madame Currie, in which he spoke of two
propositions, said: "I am not going to say that belief in the
possibilities of scientific progress is the most important. The
most important thing in the world is a belief in the reality of
moral and spiritual values."

If the "most important thing in the world is a belief in the
reality of moral and spiritual values," then proper education
should include training to acquire that belief. Not only a be-
lief in the reality of spiritual values, but more emphasis should
be attached to it, since it is the most important.

It is the purpose of schools to educate people, or prepare
them for life. Preparation for life should mean equiping a
person so that he can render the greatest possible service to hu-
manity. No greater service can be given than giving the most
important thing in the world. Now the question naturally arises
as to where one can receive this kind of an education.

The public schools have the duty of training the masses in
the ordinary branches of education — that of training its stu-
dents for some sort of gainful occupation. They can employ
good teachers and have the best equipment, but there is not
that which inspires the soul of man, in securing an education
of this type.

On the other hand we have the Church schools that give
training for the vocations and the ordinary branches of educa-
tion and also give the most essential things in life. It is the
burden of the Church to redeem man, and redemption cannot
be brought about in ignorance. In the Church schools spiritual
values can be given proper emphasis. Our Church schools are
moved by something more than the idea of material gains. Edu-
cation of the highest type is primarily a means of establishing
proper ideals, and formation of character. This is a fundamental
idea behind the Church school education.

If the Church is to fulfil its destiny in teaching the world
the principles of the gospel, it must first teach and tram its
members for that purpose. In order to show the world that we
have something worth while, it is necessary for us through
study to get a clear idea of what we really have to offer. Our

1028 IMPROVEMENT ERA

Church has sent out missionaries who were poorly equipped as
teachers of the principles of the gospel, but with hard work,
faith and prayers, they have learned much that they should
have known before going out; not till they were ready to return
home did they become really effective missionaries. How much
better would it have been had they received their education in
a Church school where they not only could have studied the
arts and sciences, but also learned more about the gospel.

It is possible for everyone who desires an education, to se-
cure it, and in this day of so many opportunities for study and
learning, there is but little excuse for a lack of knowledge. "A
person cannot be saved in ignorance," and our obligation is to
prepare ourselves for usefulness and leadership.

If education means preparation for life, we want that edu-
cation which prepares man for service and leadership of the
highest type. One should acquire the ability to harmonize
science and religion that will give an appreciation of nature, an
understanding of the purpose of our being here, and the ability
to see and recognize Jesus as the Christ and God as our Father.
The proper atmosphere for an education should be an environ-
ment in which one is brought constantly in touch with the di-
vine.
Salt Lake City

In that Heavenly Home Beyond Here

In that heav'nly home beyond here,

"Where my Parents ever reign;
Oft I used to nestle around them,

Just before to earth I came.
But before we had the gospel,

Little of them did I know;
And I wandered here in darkness,

Knowing not which way to go.

Through this great and glorious gospel,

I will find my way back home;
If I'm only true and faithful,

Then its blessings I will own.
Through them I am promised homage;

In that mansion up above,
Where resides my heav'nly parents,

All things governed by their love.

There within that heav'nly mansion,

With my parents I will dwell;
All good things for my advancement,

To me will my parents tell.
All things future, past and present,

For my good, will they be shown —
Hidden treasures of great knowledge,

To me, all will be made known.
Joseco, Nevada Matilda Mathews

Back to First Principles

In the group conference-conventions now being held, stress
is being placed in the teacher-training department upon the or-
ganization of teacher-training classes, which it is hoped will have
a tendency to stir the people, and particularly the leaders of the
organizations, to a more vitalized teaching of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. It has been discovered that attendance at re-
ligious services is not as large as it should be; the reading of the
Scriptures — our standard Church works — is not as popular as
it has been; marriages in the temple are not as numerous, in
proportion of the number married, as they should be. Hence,
the need of preaching and teaching the gospel more earnestly
and impressing its fundamental principles upon the hearts of
the young pople. Other delinquencies may be named, among
them a lack of a proper observance of the Sabbath day, pro-
fanity and bad language among a number of young men, and
a perceptible lack of family prayers among the membership of
the Church. All these conditions, facts, and problems should
stir the people, particularly the authorities and the class lead-
ers, to the need of appealing to our membership, young and old,
for reform along these lines.

As one solution we turn to the teacher-training class, and the
text book that it offers for the coming year, in which the leaders
of the organization are to devote themselves to a study of the
fundamental principles and practices of the gospel. Two courses
we have already had in these classes: first, psychology, or,
simply and literally, a study of the soul; second, the principles
of pedagogy — how to teach; and now, for the coming year, the
third course, the principles of the gospel — what to teach. This
was given in the Church summer school for teachers at Provo.
It is to be hoped that during the conventions these teacher-train-
ing departments will be largely attended; and furthermore, that
no ward in the Church will be left without a local teacher-train-
ing class. What is said and done in these gatherings should
lend a heretofore inexperienced impetus to the teaching of the
gospel in all our organizations.

In a recent speech before all the General Boards, Adam
S Bennion, Superintendent of Church schools, emphasized the
fact that "we have brought young boys and girls into service
in our organizations, who themselves have pleaded that they

1030 IMPROVEMENT ERA

have not been trained in the gospel, having been taken out of
their organizations before they were taught the gospel fully.
Hence next year we are to have a thorough study of the princi-
ples of the gospel. Young teachers are now to be taught it,
older teachers also are to be stirred to a consciousness of it. We
must all be awakened to our needs- We must understand what
is to be done. I give it, as my testimony, that there will be
wonderful advantage come out of the study of those principles."

He went on to say:

"In the second place, in a review, and it will be easily
possible, of the work we have covered during the past year,
we shall be able to discuss how to teach the principles which
we shall consider. Too often we have taught with our heads
looking over our shoulders, always looking into the past. We
teach things concerning ancient Israel, a way off in the Prom-
ised Land, leaving our boys and girls here in America wonder-
ing, 'What is the use?' We teach great Christian principles,
but with our eyes fixed all the time back there. Let us work
over here, with our boys and girls today. Better teaching is
called for, from one end of this Church to the other, or I am
not judging the estimate placed by young men and young women
on these things.

"I hope that all we have here before us will lead us to a
spiritual awakening. I have confidence in this Church, and
that confidence grows. I look forward to the greatest time in
the history of this Church- We may have been lax in some
things while we have gone through a financial period, but I
hope we are going back to God. I was stirred the other day in
reading a book, The Fundamentals of Prosperity, by Roger
Babson, from which I quote the following:

Just before I went to Brazil I was the guest of the President of the
Argentine Republic. After lunching one day we sat in his sun-parlor,
looking out over the river. He was very thoughtful. He said, "Mr. Bab-
son, I have been wondering why it is that South America with all its
great natural advantages is so far behind North America, notwithstanding
that South America was settled before North America." Then he went
on to tell how the forests of South America had two hundred and eighty-
six trees that can be found in no book of botany. He told me about
many ranches that had thousands of acres under alfalfa in ' one block. He
mentioned the mines of iron, coal, copper, silver, gold; all those great
rivers and water-powers which rival Niagara. "Why is it, with all these
natural resources, South America is so far behind North America?" he
asked. Well, those of you who have been there know the reason. But,
being a guest, I said: "Mr. President, what do you think is the reason?"

He replied: "I have come to this conclusion: South America was set-
tled by the Spanish who came to South America in search of gold, but
North America was settled by the Pilgrim Fathers who went there in search
of God."

Friends, let us as American citizens never kick down the ladder by
which we climbed up. Let us never forget the foundation upon which all
permanent prosperity is based.

. EDITORS' TABLE , 1031

"I beg of you, my brethren and sisters, that from this time
on, and particularly through this teacher-training work, we
may turn our faces, not to gold, but to the God who has made
this Church what it is, that it may the better prepare for the
coming of the Master."

In the Priesthood quorums, and in the Mutual Improvement
Associations, let us take a definite and emphatic stand upon
this subject of teacher-training. So shall we not only prepare
teachers to teach the restored gospel and to preach it, but like-
wise induce them, and those who are taught in the Priesthood
quorums and other organizations, to practice its principles, and
so come back to the fundamentals which have in the past made
this Church the power that it is in the earth, and which will
prove to be the safe ground work upon which to build in the
future. — A.

Welcome Home

Elder George Albert Smith, of the Council of the Twelve,
and his wife, Lucy Woodruff Smith have returned from the
European mission, where Elder Smith has presided since the
spring of 1919. Elder Junius F- Wells has also returned from
acting as assistant editor of the Millennial Star for the same
term. Both President Smith and Elder Wells are members of
the General Board the Y. M. M. I. A., and Sister Smith is a
member of the General Board of Y. L. M. I. A. We join with
their thousands of friends in bidding them a hearty welcome
home. Elder Orson F. Whitney entered upon his duties as
President of the European mission on July 1, and Elder Wil-
liam A- Morton on that date, took the place of Elder Junius F.
Wells as assistant editor of the Millennial Star. Elders Smith and
Wells gave a review of their missionary labors, in Great Britain
and Europe, at the regular meeting in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake
City, on Sunday, August 14, their interesting remarks being
printed in full in the Deseret News, Saturday, August 20, from
which it appears that the mission has prospered, notwithstand-
ing the turmoil that has necessarily followed the reconstruction
after the great war. The Era gladly greets the brethren and
Sister Smith and is delighted to anticipate their active services
in the improvement association work, as well as in the great
cause of the Church for which we are all laboring. Elder Wells
was appointed assistant Church Historian at the last semi-an-
nual Conference, and he will take up his labors in that office.
Elder Smith has already visited several stakes in the interest of
Church affairs and has been busy and active ever since his
arrival.

1032

IMPROVEMENT ERA

Messages from the Missions

People Indifferent to the Gospel

Elder Austin N. Toleman, President of the South Australian confer-
ence, writes under date of May 25 from Adelaide:

"Elder Robert Bischoff has been succeeded by Elder Austin M. Tole-
man as conference president, and takes the place of Elder Toleman as
conference president of New South Wales. We have five elders here in
South Australia, and are making a drive to reach as many of the coun-
try people as possible. Elders Warner and Robertson have been sent into
the rural districts, and the other three of us are laboring in Adelaide. The
people of both the country and city districts are very indifferent to the
gospel. Religion is distasteful to the people of this land, who have a
spirit of relaxation upon them and are contented to live as they are. One
cannot make them realize their religious duty, they caring little about their
salvation and giving their lives over to pleasure seeking. Paul saw Aus-
tralia when he said that in the last days people would be lovers of pleasure
more than lovers of God. The elders find that they have to keep them-
selves humble before the Lord in order to safe-guard themselves against
the contagion of indifference. We fast and pray for strength and per-
severance to do our part in warning the people of their standing in the

sight of their Maker. Where the people have been converted, they are
very faithful, but in many instances, they have been baptized before they
were converted, and so some of them drop out when the elder who bap-
tized them leaves the mission field. Those who are active are true to the
gospel, and there are many noble spirits among them." Elders left to right.
William C. Warner and Austin M. Toleman, conference president. Top
row: Clinton Beck Robertson, Earl R. Hansen and George A. Christensen.

EDITORS' TABLE 1033

Tahitian Mission

Our present force- is small but we are all interested in the great cause
we are representing and are truly thankful for being called to labor among
the descendants of that great prophet, Nephi. President Joseph F. Smith
once said that if the people of Polynesia embraced the gospel and re-
ceived a sure testimony of its divinity, they might sin, but they would never
loose that testimony, but they are very likely to return and forsake their
sins. It is a veritable truth that the island Saints are sincere and have an
abiding faith in the gospel. They are not afraid nor ushamed to defend
wjhat they know to be right against all opposition. One of the, elders of
the Church, Vaio by name, is captain of a schooner, tho Hinano, that the
French government has chartered to carry mail from Tahiti to some of
the Tuamotus, and on to the Marquesas Islands. Recently the head gov-
ernor of the Islands made a visit to the schooner, as she lay at anchor in
the Papeete harbor. Wines, liquors and tobacco were among the articles
provided for the entertainment of the governor and hit; party. Vaio was
asked what he would furnish for the guests, whereupon, he went and
bought lemonade. As captain of the ship, Vaio made a speech -of wel-
come, upon the arrival of the visitors, and told them that they were wel-
come to everything on board. He also explained that, being an elder in
the "Mormon" Church and having done missionary work in the Church,
and its teachings being against the use of liquors, tobacco, tea and coffee,
he desired to be excused if he did not smoke, and drank only lemonade.
He refused to fill and pass the glasses, saying that he could not preach
against the use of such things in the house of worship and then offer these
same things to people on board the schooner, with an invitation J.o
partake. The governor questioned him, and he explained to those present
the principles of the Word of Wisdom; whereupon, the governor com-
plimented him, and also the owners of the schooner (Taviri Vavai Co.) for
having a man who is always sober, to sail one of their vessels. There are
a number of native elders in the mission as faithful and as trustworthy as
Brother Vaio, and eleven of them are, at present, doing effective mission-
ary work in the various islands. The people have much faith in administra-
tions and some very pronounced cases of healing have been the result of
administration, both by elders from Zion and by our native brethren.

Elders who have labored here of late years will be glad to learn that
recently the wives of Peni Perry, and Timi a Punau, have both been bap-
tized and that both Peni and Timi have been received back into full fel-
lowship, both having filled the requirements of the Church. The mail comes
to Tahiti from the United States every month and those laboring here at
headquarters know when to expect mail, while those laboring in the
Tuamotus or in Tubuai often go from two to six months between mails.
Elder David O. McKay and Hugh J. Cannon made a short visit here. We
are thankful they called but are sorry they could not stay longer; yet, not-
withstanding their short visit, we know that the mission will be benefited
thereby. We are living in expectation of a longer visit in the future
from some of the General Authorities.

Elders George C. Billings and T. B. Burbide will leave for Hao, in
the Tuamotus, in a few days. While our elders are traveling, they are
at an expense of thirty francs per day ; the last two elders who left for
the Tuamotus were thirty -four (34) days in getting to their desired destina-
tion, Hikueru, at a cost of about eighty dollars ($80) American money;
while the writer was twelve days coming from San Francisco to Tahiti,
his ticket costing him sixty-eight dollars ($68). The Improvement Era is
indeed a welcome visitor in this mission. — W . L. Martin.

1034

IMPROVEMENT ERA

Elders laboring in the Tahitian mission at present are; L. H. Kennard,
Riverside, Utah; W. M. Strong, Twin Falls, Idaho; K. R. Stevens, Ferron;
G. C. Billings, Jensen; T. B. Burbidge, Salt Lake City; L. R. Mallory, Bed-
ford, Wyo.; R. S. Merrill; G. C. Nelson, Safford, Arizona; Wi L. Martin,
Murray; P. A. Streeper, Centerville, Utah; E. L. Hays, Grace, Idaho.

Elders laboring at Papeete, Tahiti, at present, are: K. R. Stevens,
Ferron; George Cecil Billings, Jensen; L. H. Kennard, Jr., Riverside, Utah;
William M. Strong, Twin Falls, Idaho; T. R. Burbidge, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ordered off the Place When Tractin-r

Elders H. L. Hawks and
E. A. Frederickson, 740 King
Street, Dunedin, New Zea-
land, write under date of
March 21: "This city has
a population of about 73,000
people, most of whom are
Scotch, and belong to the
Presbyterian church. As a
rule, they are not very favor-
able to 'Mormonism,' and it
is quite common for us to
be ordered off the place
when trading. We have no
place to hold meetings, but
the Lord has blessed us very
much in our work. We
look forward for our con-
ference to be held on the north island, about eight hundred miles from
this city. We anticipate obtaining a new determination to do better for
the coming year; at the conference, we hope to meet old companions and
many Saints. We enjoy the reading of the Era, which is the case also with
our friends."

EDITORS' TABLE 1035

Elders of the Newcastle Conference, England, left to right, back row:
Osmond C. Crowther, Conference President, Provo, Utah; Robert E. Finck,
Goshen, Utah; James G. Palmer, Conference Clerk, Morgan, Utah; Charles
W. Speiceman, Logan, Utah; John Black, Montpelier, Idaho. Front row:
Thomas M. Wheeler, Mission Secretary, Salt Lake City, Utah; Thomas
Phillips, Springville Utah; Ralph S. Gray, Salt Lake City, Utah; Ernest
H. Kearl, released President, Smithfield, Utah.

The Netherlands-Belgium Mission

Royden E. Weight of Rotterdam, Holland, writes under date of July
24, giving an account of the Netherlands-Belgium mission conference on
July 15-17: A condensed statement follows: "Meetings were held especially
for the Priesthood, for the missionaries, and also general conference ses-
sions for the general public. President Abraham Dalebout presided at each
meeting. Among the speakers on the first day were President John
P. Lillywhite, Elders A. von Tussenbrock, Carl M. Richards, Samuel R.
Carpenter, and Ate Westra, They spoke to an attentive audience of nearly
four hundred people. General conference meetings were held on Sun-
day morning, afternoon, and evening, at which other speakers presented,
before attentive audiences numbering from five to seven hundred, many of
the principles of the gospel. The spirit of the Lord was present at each
meeting to such an extent that President Serge F. Ballif of the Swiss-
German mission remarked that it was almost visible — a statement cor-
roborated many times by both Saints and strangers. New investigators
are seeking earnestly for the word of the Lord. The elders are work-
ing hard, and the Lord is crowning their efforts with success to such an
extent that they have more investigators than they can properly care for.
Aside from trading, the elders spend nearly every evening with inquirers
who seek more enlightenment as to God's dealings with his children. Of
course, untrue things are being said by ministers and are being written in
the papers about the Latter-day Saints, but we realize that such writings
and sayings have no source except hatred, and so the truth is making
headway with the fair-minded. One hundred forty-six people were baptized
during the first six months of this year; 130,000 tracts, 16,000 pamphlets,
and more than 900 books were put into the hands of the people of Holland

1036

IMPROVEMENT ERA

and Belgium during the first half year; and nearly 4,000 conversations
between the elders and those interested have been held this year, ranging
in I time from fifteen minutes to one hour and one-half. Through the
untiring efforts of the missionaries, hundreds of people in Holland and
Belgium are coming in contact with the message of life and salvation, since
the elders canvass from door to door delivering tracts and booklets, some-
times free, and for others getting a few cents, much below the cost of print-
ing. There is no molestation by the officers, and none could ask for more
courteous treatment than is being given. While the living conditions in
this country are not the best, they are better than in many other European
nations. There is plenty in the land, but prices are so high that many of
the poorer people suffer daily for the want of pioper food. In many in-
stances business is not as swift as in the United States, but most every-
one is busily engaged in some one of the many industries of the country.
This is true of both the male and the female population, as in many inr
stances the women work as hard as the men. However, the people bear
their burdens patiently, and an observer would say that they are a con-
tented people. The Dutch people are very industrious, and one needs but
to i learn how they reclaimed their land to be convinced of the fact. Along
with their industries, they are perhaps the most pleasant and courteous
people in Europe today. Missionary work among such a people is both
pleasant and profitable, and one is encouraged to put forth every effort to
help to bring such a worthy folk into the light of the gospel."

Front row: Alvin S. Nelson, Abraham Dalebout, President John P.
Lillywhite, Master Joel Lillywhite, Sister Lillywhite, Master J. D. Lilly-
white, President Serge F. Ballif of the German-Swiss Mission, Ate Westra.
Second row: Sister 0. Brainich, Oswald Brainich, Hendrick Bell, Sister
G. van der Waard, G. van der Waard, A. Barendregt, A. van Tussenbroek,
Cornelius Wetter. Third row: Samuel R. Carpenter, Royden E. Weight,
Heiko Boekweg, Cornelius Zappeij, Leendert van Beekum, Russel Monson,
Fourth row; Ruben E. Cardwell, Jan Koning, Karl M. Richards, Hurum
Dallinga, A. Sligting, John Vreeken, Arie Kruys, Joseph van Leeuwen and
Wm. Levi Phillips.

EDITORS' TABLE
Many Homes Opened

1037

«?fr S ,ea,n Hal1' ^"^ from Auckland, New Zealand, June 13
says: Auckland has a population of 155,000, and notwithstanding the in'
difference and prejudice of a large number of these people, we are finding
a tew who are ready to receive the glad tidings and have had many homes
opened to us lately m our trading. Our cottage and hall meetings are
well attended. The visit of Elders David O. McKay and Hugh J. Cannon at
our April Conference held at Huntly, New Zealand, encouraged the Saints

with new strength and determination to live the gospel." Elders left to
right: A. M. McFarlane, H. Dean Hall. Front, sitting: President Joseph
Anderson.

Former Headquarters Force, European Mission

Writing from 295 Edge Lane, Liverpool, July 29, 1921, Elder Thomas
M. Wheeler, secretary of the European mission, Liverpool, England says:

"After directing the affairs of the European missiovi for the past two
years, President George Albert Smith has relinquished the position to
Elder Orson F. Whitney, who has been appointed to succeed him. Presi-
dent Smith has done a great work in this land in many ways. Coming at
a time when the missionary corps was at its lowest ebb, due to the refusal
of the government to allow elders to land, he steadily worked on, broke
down prejudices in official circles, so that now over one hundred elders

1038 IMPROVEMENT ERA

are here doing their utmost to carry on the work. At the present time
the mission is in very good condition and everything points to a wonder-
ful work being done during the administration of President Whitney. We
had a photo taken of the force at headquarters just prior to the departure
of President Smith and family and Elder Wells for their homes in the
West, a copy of which I enclose. Left to right: Junius F. Wells, formerly

Associate Editor of the Millennial Star; President George Albert Smith,
formerly president of the European mission; Thomas M. Wheeler, secre-
tary of the European mission. Back row: J. Fred Pingvee and Elbert R.
Curtis. Elders Wells and Wheeler were here the entire time, while Elders
Pingree and Curtis came some six months ago."

A Remarkable and Historical Picture and Visit

"I am enclosing a very choice photograph for use in the Era, one of
the big mementos of the recent trip here of Elders David O. McKay and
President Hugh J. Cannon. They were with us a month in Samoa, and
that they left a good spirit and made a good impression wherever they
went, goes without saying. Their four weeks here were of hourly inspira-
tion to Saints, elders, and strangers as well. In generations yet to come,
there will be recounted the days when an apostle first s^t foot on Samoa's
shores, and of the wonderful manner in which both he and his companion
discoursed, like those of old, who 'Spake as they were moved upon by
the Holy Spirit.' The meetings with officials, and especially with the high-
est chiefs of the islands, were most impressive and memorable occasions,
and the work will take on more prestige and influence among the Samoans
from now oh, as the people have seen their greatest mea in friendly asso-
ciation with a 'Mormon' apostle. In bygone years such a visit would have
provoked but slight, passing interest, but it has now taken on the full im-
portance of one of the events of the islands, and we believe sincerely that
this mission will receive a great impetus that will carry it for years, through
the grand influence these two men of God left, for they repeatedly left their
blessings upon the people, and such things cannot and will not fall fruit-
lessly to the ground unfulfilled. Samoa will soon see the dawn of a better
day for the gospel.

"Beginning at the left with the Samoan who stands to the front with
his hands clasped, and wearing dark goggles, we have the ex-king, Malietoa,

1040 IMPROVEMENT ERA

the last monarch to reign in Samoa before the islands were taken over by
the great powers a score of years or more ago. He is a very dignified per-
son and very friendly to us bere. Next to him is his queenly wife, Uluiva;
and by her side, the lady with the necklace and fan, is Mrs. Nelson, wife
of Mr. 0. F. Nelson, the leading merchant of the islands, who was in Salt
Lake City a few months back, on a world tour, and was so well entertained
by the returned elders from Polynesia, that he is a waim friend thereby.
Then in order, in the line, come American Consul Roberts, his wife Mrs.
Roberts; President Coombs, of the Tongan mission; Elder David O. McKay
of the Council of Twelve Apostles; Sister Thurza Adams, wife of mission
president, John Q. Adams, President Hugh J. Cannon and President John
Q. Adams, of the Samoan mission. Conference Presidents Griffiths and
Stott are off to the left, the British official court interpreter (a Samoan
chief) is sitting to the right and a number of elders enroute to the Tongan
mission are mixed with the elders of this mission. All together, it is a
very remarkable and historical picture, as has been remarkable and his-
orica! this visit of Elders McKay and Cannon to these far-off Pacific shores.
— John Q. Adams, Mission President, Samoa, Apia, June 30, 1921.

Work Accelerated by New Elders from Zion

Elder William E. Coleman of the Queensland conference, Australia,
reports that the work of the Lord in that district is steadily progressing,
more particularly since the arrival of new elders from Zion. Elder Neils
W. Oldroyd, President, reports the conference in good condition. He is
assisted in the work by Elder William E. Coleman and Gerald O. Billings.

Elder William L. Jones and James K. Harris are engaged in country work
along the east coast, between Brisbane and Sydney. They report good
conditions for work in that district, as the majority of the people are free
from prejudice against the work of thfe ifcsitter-day Saints. Elders, left to
right: standing, Gerald O. Billings, Jaiaes J£. Harris; sitting: William E.
Coleman, Neils W. Oldroyd, Conference President; William L. Jones.

Boy Scout Caravan to Yellowstone Park

By LeRoi C. Snow, Caravan Historian

Following the success of the trip last summer to Zion and Bryce
canyons the Local Council of Salt Lake City planned a visit this year
for the Boy Scouts to Yellowstone National Park. The Caravan left Salt
Lake City August 6 under the leadership of Executive Oscar A. Kirkham,
Field Executive D. E. Hammond and two field instructors, Dr. Charles G.
Plummer and Dr. J. H. Paul. Generous entertainment was extended to the

*4

Photo by J. E. Bush, Caravan Photographer
Assembly in Front of Old Faithful Inn

boys all along the route at Preston, Blackfoot, Rigby and Rexburg and
on the return at Victor, Sugar City, Lewiston, Brigham City and Ogden.
The good people of other settlements would have done as much had it
been possible to accept their kind invitations. There wnre nearly 300 in
the entire party of whom 236 were officially registered as Boy Scouts and

1042 IMPROVEMENT ERA

Scout leaders. Most of these boys belong to M. I. A. troops. While
other scout organizations were represented in mixed groups most of the
boys of Troops 15, 35, 39, 47, and Troop No. 1 Midvale were in the party
and traveled and remained together. There was novel naming of the
groups for the most important of the Yellowstone geysers, the Castles,
Sawmills, Grottos, Minute Men, Giants, Riversides and Lions, and the
commissary truck was designted Old Faithful although its frequent delay
on account of auto trouble rather suggested the name "Unfaithful" or
"Fateful" as more appropriate. Troops 15 and 39 entertained with their
minstrel organizations. Tom Green's Troop 35 has a fine band and or-
chestra which added much to the trip as well as pleasure to the settlements
along the route. The troop traveled in two cars 18 boys in a light truck
"The Yellow Pup," and 8 boys in a small delivery "The Yellow Pup's
Pup." Their motto, "A mile a day or bust," came nearer being "bust"
than a mile a day during some of their numerous vicissitudes. Troop 47
have their own Oldsmobile truck the body of which they built them-
selves. The caravan was welcomed at the Park by director Horace M.
Albright who assigned as his personal representative M. P. Skinner, Park
naturalist, and as guide Ranger Frank J. Parsch. Mr. Skinner gave daily
talks on the history, geology, animal and bird life and geography of the
Park which proved not only intensely interesting but extremely valuable.
He related many experiences of his 28 years' service in the Park. It was
reported that this is the largest party that has ever visited Yellowstone
and that no other has gotten more out of a trip through America's greatest
public playground than Salt Lake's Boy Scouts. The boys perhaps en-
joyed more than anything else their close contact with wild life, feeding
the bears in camp and along the highway, the buffalo, stroking the elk,
seeing beaver at work, the deer and antelope and smaller animals and
birds. They will never forget the wonderful action of the great geysers
and the marvelous beauty of Grand Canyon, the boiling springs, the mud
and paint pots, the great terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs, and Yellow-
stone Lake. The caravan entered the Park at West Yellowstone and from
Madison Junction made the entire "Loop" around the Park. Repeating
the tour to Old Faithful in the Upper Geyser Basin and to West Thumb
the itinerary carried them southward out of the Park into the Tonto
basin through Jackson's Hole via. Moran, Jenny Lake and Wilson and over
Teton Pass where a terrific rain and electric storm was encountered keep-
ing many of the party in the mountains all night. Five days were spent
within the Park.

In the midst of it all — the great pleasure of sightseeing, camping in
the open, the weariness of travel, automobile breakdowns, toiling and push-
ing cars up steep grades, occasional hunger, passing the night in heavy
rain storm around a camp fire, sumptuous banquets spread by generous
people,, splendid entertainments both in and out of doors — under all these
conditions the boys proved themselves real Scouts. They were cheerful,
courageous and loyal. They never complained when things seemed wrong
and they accepted cheers, praise and the gifts of the people gracefully and
with gratitude. The morning and evening assemblies with the flag exercise
and prayer were particularly impressive.

More than a thousand miles were covered, twelve days spent on the
trip, nearly 300 people were fed and cared for, traveling in 19 cars, many
of them large, heavy trucks. There was not a serious accident, no one
seriously hurt and no serious sickness. This required exceptional or-
ganization and supervision. The entire trip was considered so successful
that just before reaching home a hearty expression of appreciation was
prepared and signed by the twenty leaders of the groups. The boys will
ever feel grateful for this fine opportunity which was made possible
through the Boy Scout movement.

President Moses W. Taylor of the Summit stake, was honorably re-
leased May i8, this year, on account of ill health. He has held the position
for about twenty years.

One hundred and seven degrees was the record of the temperature on
Main St., Salt Lake City, July 20. The mean temperature on the roof of
the Boston building was 85 degrees, as compared to 84 on July 8.

Indian war veterans of Utah held their annual encampment at Richfield,
July 19. About 2,000 persons were in attendance. A street parade, a ball
game, a band concert and dancing were among the features of the pro-
gram.

Dr. C. N. Jensen the new superintendent of public instruction in Utah,
who succeeds Dr. George Thomas, now president of the University of Utah,
entered upon his duties July 28, when he arrived from Cornell, where he
has been employed as assistant professor in plant pathology.

Peru celebrated the centenary of its independence during the week of
July 24-31. On July 28, 1821, General San Martin, the George Washington
of Peru, declared the independence of his country from Spain. Since then
Peru has progressed rapidly. Its foreign commerce in 1919 totaled
£39,000,000.

The Silesian controversy between Great Britain and France has been
settled by an agreement on a boundary line in accordance with the ple-
biscite. This announcement was made in a dispatch from Paris, Aug. 9.
The line agreed on bisects the disputed area and gives one part to Poland
and one to Germany.

Utah's sugar beet crop promises to be the largest of any state except
Colorado. The forecast is that Utah will produce 1,331,000 tons of sugar
beets this season, as compared to 1,389,483 tons last year, this estimate being
based on a beet acreage of 110,900 acres this year, as against 116,100 acres
a year ago. The condition of Utah beets July 1 was 95, three points above
the ten-year average. The Idaho yield this year is forecast at 467,000 tons,
or more than the crop of 1920. This in face of the fact that the Idaho
acreage this year is 52,700, as against 57,600 in 1920.

To Alaska through the air. C. O. Prest of Las Vegas, Nev., and his
mechanician, L. M. Bach, landed at Woodward field, Salt Lake, July 20.
They left Venice, Cal., Sunday and flew to Tijuana to begin the trip, so
as to comply with the slogan, "From Mexico to Siberia," the words painted
on the wings of the plane.

"All's well, except that it is hot up there," said Prest upon his arrival
here from Las Vegas on the third lap of the 4688-mile journey.

Laurentius Dahlquist, a well-known citizen of Salt Lake City, passed
away, July 25, after a brief illness, at the age of 78 years. He was a Swede

1044 IMPROVEMENT ERA

by birth and came to Utah in 1875. In the earlier days he was a wood
carver and designer and furnished a large number of the designs for build-
ings of the Church. He filled two missions to his native land. He was for
thirteen years editor and publisher of the Utah Posten, a Swedish periodi-
cal. He was a member of the Ninth state legislature. At the time of his
death he was employed in the office of the sheriff of Salt Lake county.

Scott William Anderson, president and manager of the Utah Billpost-
ing company, died at his home, July 20, of hemorrhage of the lungs 59
years of age. Mr. Anderson together with his father and a brother, or-
ganized the Utah Billposting company about thirty years ago. Since that
time the company has grown to be the largest outdoor advertisers in the
intermountain country, doing business in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. Mr.
Anderson came to Utah in 1883 from England. From 1897 to 1900 he
filled a mission in Tasmania.

A warless world by 1923 is the new slogan of the Christian Endeavor
societies, adopted in New York, July 11, by the 16,000 delegates assembled
there in convention. It is said that it will have the support of eighteen
million members and former members, in all parts of the world. The slo-
gan was originated by Dr. Francis E. Clark of Boston, the founder of the
Endeavor movement. All the forces of Christianity throughout the world,
Dr. Clark said, would be called upon to join the endeavor movement in
Order to prevent war. "We cannot wait longer for world peace," he said.
"Further delay would be disastrous."

Manufacturing in Utah doubled during the ten years ending with 1919,
according to a bulletin issued by the Census Bureau, July 15. The capital
invested during the same period increased 120 per cent. The value of manu-
factured products increased from $22,083,282 in 1909 to $41,510,802 in
1919 the last year covered by the manufacturers' census. Capital invested in
manufacturing establishments increased from $81,000,043 to $178,521,276.
These establishments paid in wages $8,986,851 in 1909 and $17,196,652 in
1919, an increase of 91.4 per cent. The supplies and materials used in-
creased from $4,000,000 to nearly $8,000,000.

The victory of the Greeks in Asia Minor is regarded as one of the
greatest importance. King Constantine's forces, by occupying Eski Shehr
and part of the Bagdad railroad, and by taking numerous prisoners, have,
virtually, broken the backbone of the Turkish nationalists' opposition.
The Greeks are fighting to make effective the decision embodied in the
treaty of Sevres, which turned over to Greece all of Thrace, right up to the
gates of Constantinople and, in addition, Smyrna and a considerable hinter-
land on the Asiatic continent. This treaty was not ratified by the Turks.
It is thought probable now that the Greeks will endeavor to seize Con-
stantinople.

Marcellus Simmons Woolley, former bishop of the Twenty-first ward,
Salt Lake City, died July 21, at his home, 66 years of age. Bishop Woolley,
the son of Edwin D. and Mary Wickisham Woolley, was born August 27,
1854, in Salt Lake, and had always resided in this city. He married Mary
Ann Naylor on June 7, 1875; he was appointed in 1893, second counselor
to Bishop W. L. N. Allen of the Twenty -first ward, and on February 18,
1894, he was made bishop of that ward. For many years he was a prom-
inent realtor of Salt Lake City. He has served as a member of the board
of education, as chief deputy sheriff, and as commissioner of Salt Lake
comity. At the time of his death he was a member of the High Council
of the Ensign Stake.

PASSING EVENTS 1045

The armament conference of the United States, Great Britain, France,
Italy, and Japan, with China added on questions relating to the Pacific,
will be held in Washington, D. C, beginning on Nov. 11 this year, the
third anniversary of Armistice day. The formal invitation of President
Harding to the governments of the countries mentioned was made public
Aug. 11. The gathering has been referred to as a "disarmament confer-
ence ," but that is hardly a correct designation of it. It is called for the
purpose of discussing limitation of armements and the adoption of a com-
mon policy in far eastern Asia and the Pacific. Disarmament cannot he
considered in the absence of a world-wide adjustment of the existing inter-
national differences on principles of perfect equity and justice.

William Jex of Spanish Fork, Utah, writes that he will be ninety years
of age on September 5. He has been interested for years in the Improve-
ment Era, and is still engaged increasing the number of subscribers for it,
a work which he has made it a point to do for many years, and which the
Era greatly appreciates. He says:

"This is the only way I can preach the gospel. I will be ninety years
old on the 5th of September. I still feel to do all I can to labor for the
salvation of souls. I have been highly favored of the Lord with a large
family. My records show that members of the family have spent seventy-
four years in foreign missions at a cost approximately of sixteen or seven-
teen thousand dollars over and above the time. I had twelve grand-sons en-
listed in the late war; one was killed in France, and his body was brought
home a few days ago."

Changes in Ward and Stake Officers during the month of July, 1921. — ■
New branches and presiding elders. — Grovont branch, Teton stake, Alma
Moulton Presiding Elder, address Grovont, Wyoming. Jackson branch,
Teton stake, Robert S. Dalley Presiding Elder, address Wilson, Wyoming.
New bishops, etc. — Lewiston second ward, Benson stake, Joseph Borgeson
succeeded Herman H. Danielson, address same. Eden ward, St. Joseph
stake, Heber C. Kempton succeeded Heber Chase Kimball, address same.
Parleys ward, Granite stake, John W. Shurtliff succeeded Herbert Savage,
address 362 Milton Ave., Salt Lake City. Ashton ward, Yellowstone stake,
H. A. Hess succeeded Hyruin R. Cunningham, address Ashton, Idaho. Milton
ward, Morgan stake, Joseph F. Spendlove succeeded William Giles, ad-
dress same. Cedar west ward, Parowan stake, Elias M. Corry succeeded Wil-
liam R. Palmer, address same.

Madame Marie Curie, who, in collaboration with her celebrated hus-
band, Professor Pi-rre Curie, in 1898 discovered radium, arrived in New
York, May 11, and was enthusiastically welcomed by a waiting multitude.
On May 20th she was received by President Harding, who, on behalf of
the women of America, presented her with a gram of radium, worth
$100,000, which will enable her to pursue her researches into the curative
qualities of the precious substance. Madame Curie was born in Warsaw,
Poland, on November 7, 1867. Her father, Professor Sklodowska, was
an instructor in physics and chemistry in the University of Warsaw. She
married in 1896 Pierre Curie, professor of general physics in the Univer-
sity of Paris, who some years later was struck by a wagon in Paris and
killed, whereupon his widow succeeded to his professorship. Madame
Curie has two children, Irene, 20 years of age, who, like her mother,
has taken up scientific research, and another daughter of 15 years.

The Irish problem was discussed by Premier Lloyd George and Eamonn
de Valera in a series of meetings which began July 14 in the offices of
the British statesman at Downing St., London. A few days later, July 18,
it was announced that Sir James Craig, the premier of Ulster, had ex-
pressed his opinion to be that northern Ireland was not directly concerned

1046 IMPROVEMENT ERA

in the questions before the conference. The status of that part of the
country, he said, had been established satisfactorily to the people. But
•uoo 3U9tu39jSe up. qoeaj pjnoo Bjop^ op pue iuouioioaoS qspug oqi ji
cerning southern Ireland, Ulster, Sir James said, would cooperate in any
matters affecting their common interests. On Aug. 14 letters that had
passed between de Valera and Lloyd George were made public. The presi-
dent of the so-called Irish republic declared that Ireland could not accept
the status of a dominion but demanded absolute independence. He added,
however, that as an independent country Ireland would gladly make treaties
with England regarding trade, limitation of armaments, lines of communica-
tion and any subject. Lloyd George replied that England would never
acknowledge the right of Ireland to secede from her allegiance to the
king.

John Lindsay passed away at a hospital in Salt Lake City, July 31. He
has been a county commissioner since 1916. In addition to this office he
had been county health commissioner for some years and second counselor
in the Cottonwood stake presidency. He was born in Salt Lake county,
September 29, 1872, the son of Joseph S. Lindsay and Emma Bennion
Lindsay. His father was a native of Liverpool, England, but was brought
to Salt Lake when he was but 10 years of age. His mother was born in
Salt Lake county and still lives at the family home in Taylorsville. Samuel
J. Lindsay, of Taylorsville, a brother of the late county commissioner, was
appointed county commissioner August 5, to succeed his brother. He will
serve for the unexpired term of his brother, until January, 1923.

Starvation in Russia adds to the woes of that country. Berlin dispatches
of July 17 state that twenty million persons in the drought stricken parts
of the country are subsisting on moss, grass and the bark of trees. Refugees
are pouring into Moscow and Petrograd. Adding to the horrors of famine
is the devastation caused by locusts which have damaged the crops in dis-
tricts not affected by the drought. Part of the army has been mobilized to
fight the insects in the Black Sea region. To Russian appeals for aid, the
American reply, through Secretary Hoover, was that none would be con-
sidered as long as American citizens were held prisoners by the soviet
government. Assurances being given that the prisoners referred to would
be released Mr. Hoover, Aug. 1, cabled Walter Lyman Brown, European
director of the American relief administration, London, to proceed to
Riga and negotiate with Russian soviet authorities preparatory to food
[Bded cUBdsBf) pmpjiB^ pojonj^sni loipauog odoj '6 -8ny uq "^jom prpj
secretary of state, to lay the subject of relief before the governments of
the world "for their prompt and efficacious common action in the name
of the love of the Divine Redeemer who gave his blood to make us all
brothers."

A Scout worthy of honor. — On June 30 at Nibley, in the Hyrum stake,
Don Smith, the seventeen-month old baby of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Smith,
fell into an irrigating ditch and was carried almost a block away before
his apparently lifeless body was taken from the stream. The screams of
the distracted mother soon gathered the neighbors to the scene of the acci-
dent, but they were helpless, thinking the child was dead.

Melvin Smith, a second class scout, working in a nearby field, heard
the cries of his mother and ran to her. He glanced at the limp little form
in his mother's arms, and then ran to the nearest telephone to call the
doctor. Hurrying back to the baby he applied artificial respiration with
all his might, for several minutes before there were any signs of life.
Resolutely and determinedly he worked on, and when the doctor arrived

PASSING EVENTS 1047

some time later the baby was breathing, and the doctor after examining the
baby and seeing the tremendous strain and pressure on the little body,
praised the boy's work which alone saved his little brother. There was
no other law by which this boy achieved success in this operation other
than by expecting it, demanding it, assuming it. He had a strong, firm
self-faith in his ability to administer the principles of first aid to the
drowning, which requires self-confidence, and persistent endeavor to at-
tain it. There is a power in the universe that helps us to do things when
we think we can. This scout was prepared. — Vance D. Walker, Dep.
Scout Com.

Enrico Caruso died at Naples, Italy, Aug. 2, after a brave but unavail-
ing struggle against the inevitable. The famous tenor singer, not long
ago visited the sanctuary of "Our Lady of Pompeii," where he gave a
thanks offering for his recovery. He also visited the Island of Capri. Soon
afterwards it became evident that his recovery was not real. Physicians
advised that he go to Rome for an operation, but he was so weak that the
journey had to be interrupted at Naples. Examination by specialists
showed that he was suffering from a subphrenic abscess accompanied by
peritonitis. Present at the death bed were his aged mother, his wife, who
is an American; his daughter, Gloria, his son, Rodolfo, and other relatives.
Caruso was born in 1873 of poor parents at Milan. His mother peddled
herbs in the streets of that city. Not a great deal is known of his early
childhood, but it has been established that from early boyhood he sang,
sometimes in the streets and in the smaller theaters about his native city.
Soon he began appearing in the smaller cities of Italy. He made his debut
in L'Amico Francesco at the Nuovo theater, Naples, in 1894; later toured
Italy and Sicily and was engaged for four seasons t La Scala, Milan. Sub-
sequently he sang in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Warsaw, Rome,
Lisbon, Paris, London and leading cities of Germany. When he came to
the Metropolitan opera house in New York on November 23, 1903, the
critics did not go into ecstacies over him. One of them wrote on the
opening night: "Signor Caruso (as the Duke in Rigoletto) has many of the
tiresome Italian vocal affectations, and when he neglects to cover his tones,
as he always does when he becomes strenuous, his voice becomes pallid."
But he was, finally, acknowledged to be the world's greatest tenor.

Judge Le Grand Young died early July 24 in his mountain home, about
81 years of age. He was born at Nauvoo, a son of Joseph Young and Jane
A. Bicknell Young, and a nephew of President Brigham Young. Starting
west with the original emigrants, the family went to Winter Quarters in
1846, remaining there until 1848, moving thence across the Missouri river
to the town of Centerville, near Council Bluffs, from where the journey
to Utah was resumed in 1850. He arrived here in September of that
year. On April 18, 1863, Mr. Young was married to Grace Hardie Young,
who died March 14, 1908. For a time as a young man, Mr. Young was toll-
keeper on the road between Salt Lake and Coalville through Parley's can-
yon. He was also a miU owner, operating sawmills in Parley's canyon.
He studied law with Hoge & Johnson and was admitted to the bar before
going to Ann Arbor to take a degree at the University of Michigan with
the class of 1871v A law partnership formed with Parley L. Williams in
1872 was maintained until 1886, the firm being expanded in the later
years of this period to take in Benjamin Sheeks. The firm, in addition to
having served the first railroads of the territory, continued as counsel for
the Union Pacific system up to the time of the consolidating operations
instituted by the late E. H. Harriman, with which Mr. Young was more
or less identified.

1048

IMPROVEMENT ERA

Mr. Young practiced law alone from 1891, when he formed a partner-
ship with Oscar W. Moyle. For many years he was attorney for the Deseret
National bank, and had long been an honored member of the State Bar
association, and served as its president. After Utah was admitted to state-
hood, Mr. Young was elected a judge of the third judicial district. His
nomination occurred during his absence from the city, his law partner, Mr.
Williams, vouching for his acceptance of the nomination. He resigned
at the end of six months to care for his private practice. He served two
terms in the city council. He was a member of the high council of Liberty
stake and senior member at the time of his death. For many years he was
superintendent of the Thirty-first ward Sunday school, in which character
he is fondly remembered by thousands. In 1907 he built the Emigration
canyon railroad, financing the undertaking largely with funds had from
the sale of the property now known as Federal Heights to the Telluride
Realty company. He received the tract from the government in a trade for
land in Red Butte canyon that is now back of the Fort Douglas reserva-
tion. This railroad served for ten years to bring sandstone from Emi-
gration canyon for building purposes and to carry excursionists. In addition
to his two sons, Mr. Young has four daughters, two brothers, Dr. Seymour
B. Young of this city and Bicknell Young of Chicago, four sisters, Mrs.
Vilate Young, Mrs. Chloe Young Benedict, Miss Henrietta Young and
Miss Fannie Young, all of Seattle; a half brother, "Willard L. Young, is
living at Blackfoot, Idaho, and a half sister Mrs. Myra Burnham Russell,
in Salt Lake City.

Alberta's New Farmer Government. — A political land slide in Canada
took place at the election of July 18 when the Liberal government, headed
by Premier Stewart met defeat at the polls by the organized farmers. The
Liberal government, in existence since the creation of the province in 1905,
was considered one of the best in the Dominion. However, this movement,
which has been developing rapidly during the past two years among the
farmers of Alberta, won the day, under the able leadership of H. W. Wood,

George L. Stringham

Glemcood, Canada

Laurence Peterson

Barnwell, Canada

PASSING EVENTS 1049

a man with wonderful organizing ability. The new government has always
b&eai in favor of strict prohibition, and at the last convention, held at
Edmondton, with 3,000 delegates assembled it went on record as favoring
the abolishment of the cigaret from the province. They are opposed to the
party system of government and claim that this is an age of organization.
Farmers, laborers, mechanics teachers, etc., should be organized, and each
of these organizations should be represented in the affairs of government
proportionate to their numbers. They have also other advanced ideas and
their method of handling and solving these questions will be keenly
watched by the people. Ontario, two years ago, elected a Farmers' Govern-
ment, which is making good. Out of the sixty-one seats in the Legislature,
thirty-nine will be occupied by the farmers at the next session, giving them
a good working majority. George L. Stringham, of Glenwood, and Laurence
Peterson of Barnwell, two members of the Church of Jefius Christ of Latter-
day Saints will sit in the next Legislature. Heretofore they only had one
member of the Church, Martin Woolf, of Cardston, who was this time de-
feated by the farmer candidate, George L. Stringham. Laurence Peterson,
born at Provo, Utah, April 12, 1873, was educated at the B. Y. Univer-
sity. He taught school in Utah and Idaho, moved to Canada in 1902, has
taken a leading part in every laudable progress in that district, and is a
forceful character, having wielded an influence for great good, both in
religious and civil life. George L. Stringham was born in Holden, Millard
county, Utah, May 21, 1876. He wa6 educated also at the Brigham Young
University, Provo. He was a Democratic member of the Utah Legislature,
in 1905. He has been an energetic and active worker in Canada, being a
vigorous advocate of irrigation, and at present chairman of the United
Irrigation District, in which construction work is expected to start soon. —
E. Pingree Tanner.

Order of Taking up the Y. M. M. I. A. Work for September

The following plan and order of taking up the Y. M. M. I. A. work in
the stakes and wards is suggested by the General Board. The stake com-
mittees should place special emphasis on the work in the following order,
but should commence all work at once, and continue it during the entire,
year :

Opening Social — Officers should plan to make this an unusually at-
tractive evening. There are many varieties of entertainment from which to
select; each ward should plan a program most pleasing and suitable to its
membership. — See "Special Activities Folder" for suggestions.

Membership — Visit eligible members and prepare for the opening on
October 11. Follow further plan of Membership and Organization Com-
mittee, as per Hand Book.

Organization — Organization should be complete in the stake and wards
the year round, if there are any vacancies fill them now. See to getting
faithful class leaders who will attend the Teacher-Training classes.

Manuals — See to the early obtaining of manuals, by ward officers, and
a knowledge of them by leaders prior to the beginning of class work Oct.
11. Notice the lesson titles in this issue of the Era.

Era — The Era committee should begin its work of soliciting subscrip-
tions from every family in the ward, early in September, and should also
lay definite plans for special campaign to be conducted for two weeks prior
to commencent of the new volume, November 1. Present subscribers,
should send in their subscriptions early to insure that no numbers shall be
missed.

The "Era?' contains not only the best stories and articles, but embraces a wealth
of gospel wisdom to instruct, comfort, and inspire the Saints. I feel that it should be
in the home of every Latter-day Saint, for it provides every member of the family
with much splendid reading matter, and brings the family nearer to the hearth. —
Wreno Bowers, Kamas, Utah.

The Improvement Era is indeed a most excellent help to the missionaries. It
always contains a word of consolation and enlightenment for the elders, and for
anyone else who reads it. — Royden E. Weight, Netherlands Mission Secretary, Rot-
terdam, Holland.

President Charles A. Callis*, of the Southern States mission, Atlanta, Georgia,
writes under date of July 28: "You are doing a great missionary work in the pub-
lication of the Era and the Lord is blessing you, and will continue to bless you.
The Era is a comfort, a teacher, and a great help to the servants of the Lord."

Improvement Era, September, 1921

Two Dollars per Annum

Entered at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah, as second class matter

Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of

October 3, 1917, authorized on July 2, 1918

Address Room 406 Church Office Building, Salt Lake City, Utah

Heber J. Grant, ) _ ,. Edward H. Anderson, Business Mgr.

Edward H. Anderson, ) Editors ]yjoronj Snow, Assistant

CONTENTS

Monument, "This is the Place" Frontispiece

Pioneer View 957

Monument at Pioneer View Prest. B. H. Roberts 959

Correct Placing of the Monument, Pioneer View.

Illustrated Elder W. W. Riter, Elder Alma

Eldredge 969

By Their Fruits. A Poem Raymond Partridge 968

Example Elder George F. Richards 977

Help it On. A Poem Ida L. Belnap 979

The Water Fairy Wreno Bowers 980

Joseph H. Dobson, D. D. D 983

Arouse Ye, My Soul. A Poem. Helen Kimball Orgill 991

Ah Ching Elder David O. McKay 992

One Picture of Thousands Will H. Brown 997

New Scout Home Amid the Mountains. Illustrated.../V. Alvin Pedersen _... 999

A Morning Song - L. hula Greene Richards _...1001

Sources of Joy and Factors of Happiness. I-III Dr. George H. Brimhall 1003

Study Courses for 1921-22 1009

Shanghai. Illustrated H. F. Gordon 1011

Shall We Know Our Own Once More? Poem Translated by Frank I. Kooy-

man _...1012

Does Education Pay? Dr. E. B. Brossard 1013

To Babyland. A Poem Dorothy C. Retsloff 1017

A Warning Word Elmer W. Pratt. 1019

Maud Baggarley _ Grace Ingles Frost 1020

Outing of Boy Scouts Troops of Mt. Pleasant. Il-
lustrated _ S. M. Nielsen 1022

To My Father. A Poem James H. Moore 1024

Pilgrimage to the Temple Archer Willey 1025

Why a Church School? Marion L. Harris _ 1027

In the Heavenly Home Beyond Here. A Poem ....Matilda Mathews 1028

Editors' Table— Back to First Principles - 1029

Welcome Home _ - - 1031

Messages from the Missions ~ - 1032

Mutual Work t 1041

Passing Events 1043

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1 ."''''' I

3 * a

I PREPARE FOR SUCCESS I
at the U. A. C.

a • S

You can secure thorough preparation for real, worth-
while positions at the Utah Agricultural College.

Complete training is offered young men in the fol-
lowing essential fields:

AGRICULTURE — Practical farmer; stock raiser; animal husband-
man; poultry husbandman; dairy farmer; manager of creamery;
range manager; soils expert; crops expert; crops pests inspec-
tor; teacher; orchardist; county agent; extension specialist; agri-
cultural chemist; bacteriologist; expert in farm management; land-
scape gardener; botanist; entomologist; veterinarian (first two
years, only). . d §

AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING— Agricultural engineer; drafts-

| man; surveyor; drainage expert; irrigation engineer; rural archi-

tect; expert in rural sanitation; expert in road construction.
MECHANIC ARTS — Contractor; automobile mechanic; tractor

1 operator; teacher; gas engine expert; cabinet maker; carpenter;

iron worker; foundry man; expert machinist; draftsman.
BUSINESS — Banker; expert in marketing; advertising expert;
salesman; manager of cooperative institutions; business administra-
tor; private secretary; office manager; typist; stenographer; ex-
pert in agricultural economics; economist; expert in political
science; teacher.

GENERAL SCIENCE — Teacher; artist; musician; librarian;
physician (first two years, only) ; writer expert in chemistry, bacter-
iology, botany, geology, zoology, entomology, mathematics; for-
eign languages, English, history, political science, public speak-
ing, physiology.

§ Send for "Preparing for Success," an illustrated booklet on the work of
the College. Also for "The Rush to the Cities," showing the importance
of the work in Education at the U. A. C. Both are free.

The Utah Agricultural College comprises the Schools of
Agriculture, Home Economics, Agricultural Engineering,
1 Mechanic Arts, Commerce and Business Administration,
and General Science.

The Fall Quarter Opens
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12

I The Utah Agricultural College

I The Home Of Efficient Education

j LOGAN UTAH

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Brigham Young University

"Trains for Leadership
Through Its

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

COLLEGE OF COMMERCE AND
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Offering over 400 courses among which are :

Accounting

Advertising

Agronomy

Agricultural Chemistry

Animal Husbandry

Art

Art Supervision

Art Teaching

Astronomy

Assaying

Auto Mechanics

Bacteriology

Biology

Blacksmithing

Breeding

Botany

Business Administration

Cabinet Construction

Carpentry

Chemistry

Child Care

Cookery

Comparative Religions

Dairying

Debating

Dietetics

Domestic Art

Dramatic Art

Drainage

Drafting

Economics
Education
Electricity

Evolution and Religion
English

Farm Mechanics
Farm Management
Feeding
Field Crops
French
Foods
Geology
Genealogy
Health Supervision
Heredity and Eugenics
History

Home Economics
Household Administra-
tion
Household Physics
Irrigation
Iron Work
Instrumental Music
Latin
Law

Mathematics
Marketing
Mechanic Arts
Mechanical Drawing
Meteorology

Millinery

Music — (all branches)

Oratory

Pedagogy , '

Personal Efficiency

Physiology

Philosophy and Religion

Play Production

Physical Education

Physics

Political Science

Public Speaking

Radio Work

Religion and Ethics

Shorthand

Shop Work

Soils

Social Statistics

Social and Recreational

Leadership
Sociology
Spanish
Stock Judging
Textiles
Theology
Typewriting
Vocational Education
Voice Culture
Woodwork
Zoology

Registration September 12

i
For a copy of the 1921-22 catalog and other information

Address:

PRESIDENT'S OFFICE

Brigham Young University

PROVO, UTAH

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New Edition of
Book of Mormon

Every missionary
abroad and every teach-
er at home should have
a copy of this hand-
some and serviceable
volume. Call in and
see it in handy

POCKET SIZE

Both type and page
standard size. Bound
in flexible leather,
best India Paper.

Postpaid, $5.00.

Deseret Book Go.

44 East South Temple
Salt Lake City, Utah

Go Forward

Business is beginning to improve. Conditions will
be much better soon.

Go forward with the times. Prepare yourself for
a worthwhile position. Fit yourself for a place of
responsibility and trust.

Our courses of training are practical and open the
way to splendid opportunities in the bank and of-
fice. Join our classes Monday and begin immedi-
ately to increase your value.

L. D. S. Business College

SALT LAKE CITY

WHEN WRITING TO ADVERTISERS, PLEASE MENTION THE IMPROVEMENT ERA

Is Your Life Insurance Beneficial?

The very best there is in Life Insurance issued by

The Big Home Company

You need Our Insurance - - We want Your Business

Beneficial Life Insurance Co.

Heber J. Grant, Pre.. SHLT L71KB Lorenzo N. Stohl.V.Pres. & Mgr.

Above is a fac-simile of our Mountaineer
Overall label.

The Mountaineer Overall has met with
general approval for fit, style, service
and price economy.

WHEN WRITING TO ADVERTISERS, PLEASE MENTION THE IMPROVEMENT M1U